Duty Calls
by Coeurl Whiskers
Summary: AU timeline: Jaune Arc only ever wanted to be a Huntsman, but fate denied him the chance and instead he landed a role in the Vale Navy Air fleet. With war slowly brewing on the horizon against Atlas and the other Kingdoms, his job was about to take a turn for the worse as world changing events were set in motion.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY as it rightfully belongs to Roosterteeth. All references used belong to their respective owners.**

 **Hello there, welcome to my fanfic. I would like to begin right off the bat that upon reading this chapter you will find that I may have completely ripped this scene from a game and just changed up the characters and settings. While partially true in some aspects, I just borrowed the scene since I thought it would fit well with the direction I am taking this story in. I may change it to a crossover in the future but that remains to be scene. I have also borrowed some references from dishwasher1910 in his 3.0 AU.**

 **Enough of me rambling, I hope you enjoy the prologue to what would be a very interesting take on the RWBY universe should war be ignited in this technologically advanced world.**

* * *

 _-Somewhere 100 miles off the north coast of Atlas-_

"Captain Sims it is imperative that you secure the research data before the Atlas does. Bring back that data at all costs, if you fail there may not be a tomorrow for the kingdom of Vale". The radio channel buzzed.

As the Nighthawk class dropship soared through the thick dark clouds, lightning cackled wildly outside as its bright light pierced the windows and illuminated the interior of the vehicle.

"Understood Kingpin, we'll get the data." The determined squad leader replied.

"You think there's anyone on that base Wolf?" Snipes asked in a thick northern accent while cocking his rifle.

"The whole research facility went dark 3 hours ago. If anyone's still alive it would be a miracle on that frozen hell hole." Wolf explained gruffly as he peered out the window.

"Thirty seconds to jump!" The Pilot announced.

"Ready up!" Wolf barked.

As the three-man team gathered up against the door, they double checked their weapons and gear as to not waltz into the mission only to die due to some minor mechanical failure.

With the interior of the aircraft gone dark, the flashing red light above the jump door was the only guidance as it flashed 'Prepare' every three seconds to the men.

"Ten seconds to jump!"

As the door slid open, the air outside howled eternally as it shook the aircraft. Maintaining course, the pilot skilfully steadied the dropship just enough for the squad to make a clean jump.

"Jump!"

As the red light flashed to green the men didn't need a second order to tell them to go and hurried out the door one by one in quick succession. Emptying the aircraft, the Pilot pulled away at his own leisure and waited for the pickup call to be issued.

Air screaming around his ears, Captain Dan 'Wolf' Sims steered his body onto the projected flight path mapped on his HUD. Arms spread out, he glided with the wind and let gravity do the rest as he descended rapidly with his team towards the landing zone.

Descending from the clouds, they deployed their jet boosters to soften their landing on the icy terrain. Landing in the unknown, this was where the dangerous part of the mission began.

"Let's make a move on the station. We don't have much time before Atlas shows up, hell they may even be in there with that godforsaken SRED division of theirs."

"With all due respect sir, why is Atlas concerned over a research station in neutral territory which is run by a foreign Kingdom?" Jones asked.

"I don't run the political scene Jones, but Atlas has the right as everyone else to be on neutral soil. But them setting foot within a foreign facility governed by foreign people is clearly trespassing and in breach of several laws. But its Atlas, they don't give a shit about Laws, not since the past fifteen years or so." Wolf answered the curious soldier.

"We're free to engage?"

"Damn right you are. Anything within one kilometre of the research station is Vale territory. Anything breaching the facility is to be silenced."

"Found an opening, seems like you were right boss. Atlas beat us to the chase, and it seems they brought SRED with them." Snipes announced in a low voice as he peered over the ravenous edge.

Peering over the edge, the Captain visibly counted two men and deemed it a mere scout party. Signalling his men to get ready to jump, he counted down to three before turning to his men one last time.

"I'll go for the left, Snipes you take the right. Make it quick."

With an affirmative nod coming from the man, the three soldiers leapt off the edge and into the depths of the caverns. Descending like mad hawks upon their prey, Wolf activated his boosters at the last minute and pinned his target to the floor.

Burying his knife into the back of the head, he curved the blade up at a forty-five-degree angle and killed his target instantly. Glancing over to Snipes, the man had trouble with his takedown as his target was a robot.

Wires exposed and sparks flying everywhere, the machine flew into a confused state as it tried to identify the stranger as fried or foe. With a precise throw to the head, the knife destroyed the processing chip and rendered the droid useless.

"Pick up the pace people!" Wolf barked as he aimed his silenced rifle at the only entrance leading to this small hiding spot.

"Always hated those clankers." Snipes remarked as he linked up with them.

"Jones, take point." Wolf ordered.

As the man complied, the trio snaked their way across the maze like tunnel before reaching an opening at the end.

"Hold," Jones held up a fist as his movement broke down into short silent steps.

"I count four on the top of the facility. Seems like most of them are inside the base. What's the call boss?" Snipes asked as he aimed his rifle at the targets.

"Pick your targets and take them out quickly. I'm going for the far right, fire on my shot." Wolf instructed.

Aiming down the scopes of his rifle, he lined up his first shot and held his breath. Finger on the trigger, he followed the soldier until he came to a complete halt at the edge of the roof. Seeing his chance, he squeezed the trigger and fired three rounds.

As the gun jolted, the suppressor did its job of keeping his shots hidden and murdered his target dead on. As his squad opened fire on their respective targets, they too hit their mark and the bodies dropped.

"I got him." Snipes said as he fired his gun once more and downed the last soldier on the rooftop.

"Move up, the elevator should be our access point into this base." Wolf instructed as he began jogging over to the platform.

"Shit! Hostiles on the elevator!" Jones called out.

"Weapons free! Weapons free!" Wolf barked as he quickly raised his rifle.

As the large metal platform rose towards the surface, the six men standing about were clueless of the invaders until the very last minute. By then it was already too late.

As the three men opened fire, they aimed with such precision akin to a laser pointer that none of their shots missed. Muzzled gunfire buzzing through the air, bullet casings ejected rapidly from the weapons as the projectiles tore through their targets.

Within five seconds the six SRED soldiers that had rode the elevator to the top were all murdered swiftly.

"Come on, the enemy likely knows we're here. Let's secure the data and be gone!" Wolf urged the others as he boarded the elevator before starting it up.

"My god, are these the civilians?" Jones asked before rolling a body over with his boots.

Staring at the white hazmat suit, face hole revealed a young female in her late thirties. The large gaping hole in her head indicated an execution of some sort had occurred not too long ago.

"You know I was starting to feel sorry for these bastards, now I just downright despise them. Sick fucks." Disgust resonated from Snipes voice.

"Why would they do it? Why the civilians? Weren't they just scientists doing other things?" Jones asked while checking the other bodies.

"Too many witnesses, too many loose ends. For Atlas this is just collateral damage. They want whatever's in that data mass. Command can't stress us enough about how important that data is, whatever is on it is something Atlas must want pretty badly."

"Well, let's disappoint the bastards then, I can't wait to payback those pigs." Snipes gritted his teeth in visible anger.

"We're here. Stay sharp. Vault is up ahead through the server room." Wolf signalled Jones to take point while following close.

Sweeping the narrow rooms, it didn't take long for the team to stumble across the first patrol within the base. Quickly giving directions, Wolf instructed his squad to take up firing positions while he set up the enemies.

Staying low and hugging the server blocks, he readied an anti-gravity dust grenade and peeked around the corner to judge his throw. Removing the pin, he primed the explosive and threw it into the room that housed the enemy soldiers.

It didn't take long for one of the men to notice before he started screaming the threat out. One word was all that escaped the soldier's mouth before the grenade went off and sent everything afloat.

"Weapons free!" Wolf yelled before picking his targets. Squeezing the trigger, he emptied the remaining bullets in his magazine on one target. Floating bodies pushed back by the kinetic energy of the bullets, his squad picked off the remaining soldiers before the grenade wore off and the bodies and other light objects fell back to the floor.

Pushing forward swiftly, the elite team swept through the corridors and rooms before stepping out into a large hangar bay. At the end of the room stood a large metal door that was sealed firmly with an array of locks.

"Kingpin this is SCARs 4, we've located the vault and preparing to extract the data, over." Wolf reported.

"Copy that SCARs 4, keep us informed on your progress over."

"Raider this is SCARs, we're about to extract the data. Standby for confirmation."

"Roger that SCARs 4, coming around to secure an exfil for you. Just say the word."

Without further delay, the Captain punched in the ten-digit code into the keypad and waited for the green light response. A few seconds passed, and the control panel emitted a successful noise. As if the opening noise couldn't be subtler, the door let out a loud hiss as the locks undid themselves.

"Um sir, I think we may have just alerted the enemy to our position." Jones said as he watched the main hangar door.

"No time to idle, Snipes get us a vehicle, Jones watch the hangar door, delay the bastards!"

"On it!" They replied in unison before moving to their objectives.

"Can't this thing be faster?" Wolf groaned under his breath as the door fully opened.

With the vault unsealed, the sounds of men mounting outside the hangar door could be heard due to their constant yelling and ordering as they tried to break into the facility.

Ignoring the disturbance outside, Wolf impatiently tapped his foot as the heavy bracket containing the memory drives of the computers running the facility rolled out into the open.

Presented with another keypad, the Captain could only roll his eyes in annoyance as he punched in a different ten-digit code that allowed the data mass to be extracted. As the security device took its sweet time, the hangar door was about to be breached by the Atlesian troops as they had nearly cut a hole.

Time was running out for the men and neither of them wanted to make a last stand in this god forsaken icy wasteland.

"Here they come!" Jones yelled as he loaded a fresh magazine.

With a loud pop coming from the machine, the data mass had been ejected safely from bowels of its storage compartment with all the data intact. A relieved sigh came from the Captain before he snatched the block of data and secured it to his vest.

"Let's move!" Wolf barked before smashing the button that opened the hangar doors.

As the alarm blared throughout the large complex, the heavy steel door began to rise and the cold unforgiving weather swept through the complex. With the unforgiving weather followed the cold soldiers of Atlas.

Running towards the vehicle, gunfire soon erupted around them as the Atlesian troops made it their sole mission to stop the elite team from leaving the complex. As Jones returned fire, Wolf ducked low and ran like a mad man towards the vehicle.

Mounting the Chernarus Tactical Buggy, Wolf hopped straight into the rear and climbed onto the minigun whilst Jones dived through the open canopy and into the back seat.

"Punch it!" Wolf yelled.

Not waiting another moment to pass, Snipes slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the vehicle lurched forward with immense speed. The fast acceleration of the buggy propelled the team out of the facility at breakneck speeds and into the frozen icy tundra.

As bullets and laser fire whizzed past and embed itself into the armour plating of the vehicle, Wolf decided to respond in kind by firing the mounted minigun. Forcing the human soldiers to duck for cover, the robotic units weren't so lucky as the tungsten rounds shredded them.

"Raider this is SCARs, we have exited the building on a buggy and are due East of the complex. How soon can you pick us up over?"

"Acknowledged SCARs I have a positive fix on your location. Keep heading East and I'll meet with you in one minute. Over."

"Copy that Raider."

"We good sir?" Jones asked.

"Data mass secured and ready to exfil, we're almost there boys." Wolf offered a triumphant grin.

"Boss! Contact overhead!" Snipes yelled just as an aircraft roared overhead.

"Was that Raider?!" Jones asked in confusion as his eyes followed the vehicle.

As the unidentified aircraft pulled a hard turn, it bore resemblance to that of a Raven dropship albeit sleeker in design and smaller. It was at this point Wolf noticed the insignia engraved on its rear tail that sent a chill down the man's spine.

"SRED dropship! Snipes gun it and perform evasive manoeuvres. The fucker is coming around for a gun run!" He barked.

"On it!" The man complied before pushing the vehicle to its limits.

As the buggy tore across the flat icy plains, it reached speeds of almost 300km/h but still wasn't enough to outrun to dropship that was closing in on their tail. With the wind howling around them and pressing strongly against the small figures, it looked like all three were about to be blown away.

Using the mounted gun to his advantage, the barrel began spinning rapidly before bullets escaped the barrel at tremendous speeds. Firing wildly at the fast-moving aircraft, the first few bullets hit their mark but did little damage as it scraped the hull.

Alerting the pilot to incoming fire, the dropship began to swing sideways to avoid more of the bullets. Determined to gun the aircraft down, Wolf tried to aim at the cockpit but to no avail as the target kept swinging left and right and throwing his aim off.

To make matters worse, the minigun had run out of ammo and they were now practically sitting ducks for the aircraft to open fire on them. Wolf prayed to the Gods above that Raider would show up now or else the entire mission was done for.

"I see Raider!" Snipes excitedly announced through the unintelligible wind.

Turning to see where exactly their extraction was, a ray of hope shone upon the dropship as it broke through the clouds ahead of them and began its approach. Surely by now Raider would've noticed the enemy dropship behind them and move to intercept before extracting them?

The ray of hope that was their saviour vanished as the rear part of the aircraft became visible to the team within the next few seconds. Flames burning brightly from its engines and rear compartment before it crashed into the icy floor and spun wildly out of control.

"Shit!" Wolf slammed the handle bars in frustration. They were so close in completing their mission and yet somehow things just went wrong at the last minute.

"Rocket!" Jones pointed and screamed as his eyes displayed vivid fear.

"EJECT!" He yelled loudly before throwing himself off the high moving vehicle.

As time slowed down around him, he watched with falling grace as his squad bailed out of the buggy before the rocket exploded upon contact. Bright orange flames enveloped his vision as the fires began to expand rapidly.

The heat pierced his exo suit and clothing before crawling all over his skin. With one final blink the shockwave came and sent him flying even further before knocking him out. What followed next was simply darkness.

…

Breathing heavily, Wolf opened his dazed eyes as he slowly recovered from the mess. Electronics and radio broken and non-operational, he lay on the chilling floor in vain attempt to sought out his team mates.

Gazing around the plains, the snow storm had risen and the blizzard picked up speed visibly. Sooner or later he was going to be dead if the enemy didn't get to him. As his sights fell upon a motionless body, he recognized the camo pattern belonged to Snipes.

Using his hands, his feet were still numb from the explosion but that didn't stop him from trying. Dragging his injured body across the frozen floor, he looked around for signs of Jones but only saw bad omens approaching.

Before he knew it, two Atlesian androids were on top of him and had hauled him up to his knees without regard for his damaged body. As a male soldier adorning a unique battle suit approached him, he gave a sneering look before picking Snipes up.

As his squad mate let out a painful groan, he was quickly shut up by a painful hit to the face from the rifle stock of the soldier. Hearing a body being dragged across the floor, Wolf quickly turned to source and found Jones with a bloodied face as he was moved closer towards them.

The soldiers dragging him showed no care for the injured as they dropped his body onto the chilly ground. As Jones let out small groans of pain, it was clear everything for him hurt and to make a noise would be costly.

Not the reunion he was expecting, Wolf could only watch in fear as him and his entire squad were about to be executed on the spot. If anything, he only hoped the enemy would spare his squad and take him instead.

The sounds of high heels echoing in this tundra waste land filled his ears which only piqued his curiosity even further. Looking towards the source, his vision was still hazy but managed to make out a slender figure wearing a tall cap with what seemed to be a jacket around her.

As the figure came into view, Wolf wore a surprised look as a young feminine figure filled his view. He had known about her only through the media and intel reports, but to see the legendary woman herself in person was something of an honour.

"Is the data retrieved?" She asked in a stern voice.

"Right here ma'am." The soldier adorning the unique battle suit responded, one would assume he was a high ranking officer amongst them.

"Appreciated Sayars," She nodded before turning her gaze towards Wolf.

As she took a step closer towards the soldier, she crouched down below and placed her bare hands on his shoulder. Her crystal blue eyes gazed into his very own, as if she were staring into his soul and learning everything about him.

As Snipes let out a cough, he let out a pained groaned before calling out "Wolf" for reassurance. Gaining the attention of the woman, she merely pursed her lips in disappointment before returning her gaze towards Wolf.

"How many did you come with?" She asked in a gentle voice.

Wolf paused for a moment before staring at his men and back towards her, "We're it…." He panted.

"I see," She looked around for a second time, "And the dropship we shot down?"

He stared at his men, breathing becoming heavier as he ignored the question, "P-Please….my men need….medical help…." He gestured towards them, a cry of plea in his voice.

As the Woman eyed the two soldiers, she merely formed a puzzled look on her face as if she didn't comprehend his request, "You care about them, your men. You care for them a lot no?" She asked him with a straight face.

Nodding slowly at her question, a small sigh escaped her mouth before she stood up. Quickly drawing a pistol from her side, she aimed the pistol at Jones' head and gave a deadpan look towards Wolf. The cold blank face she gave the Captain would be forever etched in his mind until his last breath.

He wanted to scream, begged her to stop the unnecessary killing. He wanted to take responsibility for everything that happened. But his mouth hung open and with that no words came out. His eyes stared into hers and it pleaded her not too. The sight of Jones struggling on the ground, shaking his head at the gun barrel pained the man.

In a bizarre twist of events, the woman quickly aimed her pistol at a nearby soldier and pulled the trigger. A loud bang and the bullet tore through the soldiers' helmet before his body dropped to the floor. The shock on everyone's face was something to consider, but the woman merely kept a blank expression.

She returned her gaze towards the Captain, "You see, that is your weakness. Care clouds your judgement," Her gaze locked with his, "That is why you cannot win." She spoke slowly and clearly before walking away, "Kill them all, save your ammo."

As she walked away slowly, his final glimpse was her white hair flowing with the wind before an android filled his view. Hearing the struggles of Snipes and Jones, they were quickly put out of their misery as the soldiers slit their throats.

His worse fears coming true, there was no hope left as the butt of the rifle smashed into his helmet. Knocked onto the floor, a metal foot came down on him before everything went dark.

* * *

"What was in that Data mass sir?" Jaune asked the tall figure in the room. His face weary and tired from staying up all night sorting through major problems.

"Unclear for now, the only thing I do know that is on that data mass is the prototype plans for our Naval Airfleet. It's been 48 hours since we last had contact and Atlas has made no demands of any sorts." The light toned figure folded his arms.

Jaune merely shook his head in disagreement before pointing at the image of the woman, "Atlas doesn't make demands Admiral, they set foot inside Vale territory and execute our men on neutral soil."

"Our team was simply sent in to retrieve highly sensitive data from a closed facility."

"That facility was our property, our soil. Sir why is Atlas even allowed to set foot on that island let alone within a proximity of our own settlement? The Kingdom of Vale bought that piece of land through legal methods." Jaune argued.

"By order of the International Accords all and any neutral lands are permit-"

"Sir! That objective did not require a small team but a coordinated strike force."

"Lieutenant Arc!" The man unfolded his arms, "I implore you to use diplomacy in this office," He instructed while walking behind his table, "Take a different tact."

Jaune strictly remembered his place due to the error of letting his emotions cloud his judgement, "Yes sir." He replied sharply. Taking a deep breath, he decided to avoid adding fuel to the tension in the air, "Who else knows about this?"

The Admiral pressed a button underneath his desk to open the window, "So far only Joint Strategic Command and you."

Jaune couldn't believe this, it was absurd that very few knew little about this incident, 'Sir this is a deliberate act of aggression. Atlas set foot on our soil, soil we legally claimed. We should be out there putting our air fleet on patrol, not hosting a fleet parade!" Jaune pointed at the event down below.

"The rules of engagement prohibit such defensive actions under these circumstances Lieutenant." The man replied with a disappointed look.

"So, we just stand by with our guns in the sand while throwing a fleet parade?!" Jaune stared in disbelief.

"Lieutenant Arc," The man firmly began, his eyes gazing at him, "Make no mistake that my instinct align vastly with yours. And that is we need to retaliate."

Jaune pursed his lips together firmly and nodded, "Then why don't we sir?"

The admiral sighed and rested a hand on his left arm before guiding him away from the window, "They're politicians Arc, to them they'd wipe their assess with whatever Lien and flags keeps the smoke stacks burning," He took a seat before gesturing to Jaune to do the same, "Mounting an offense seems like an uncalculated plan that would severely upset them. Until there is war, I'm afraid the warriors aren't in charge." He rubbed his chin.

"But by the time there is a war it would've been too late. Atlas has been building up their war machine for the past decade all for the guise to combat the Grimm. But ever since then they've been building weapons to fight humans, this isn't right." Jaune stated the obvious, "You taught me in flight school to assess the situation, work the problem until there is a solution. You said it so yourself."

The man let out a chuckle, "You were always a fast learner Arc," He leaned forward with a serious look, "STRATCOM is well aware of the situation, but until then, there is to be no grounds for an operation to be carried out." His tone firm and final.

Jaune wore a defeated look, a small sigh escaped his mouth before his shoulders slouched forward, "Very well sir, thank you for the briefing." His body sunk back into the chair.

A small electronic beep filled the room as the holographic projection of an officer appeared next to Jaune, "Admiral Glauca, the ceremony progress is in place. We're waiting for you sir."

"Thank you, Petty Officer." The man nodded.

"Is there anything else you want to brief me on sir?" Jaune asked.

"Negative Lieutenant, your are dismissed. Take the dropship on the rooftop, I'll follow soon."

"Yes sir." Jaune saluted smartly before leaping out of his chair.

Exiting the room with a heavy heart, he was greeted by a familiar Faunus upon closing the door to the Admiral's office.

"How many?" She asked right off the bat, her bunny ears brim with curiosity.

"Four KIA, Atlas was already there. They took everything and looted the place." Jaune looked down with a heavy face before walking.

"Sons of bitches," She fumed, "We should be up there flying watch in our Ravens and not down here celebrating these parades."

Jaune stopped in his tracks, "The Admiral doesn't disagree, but rules are rules. We must follow orders Velv. Besides, we've been repeating this parade for five years. You know the drill."

Velvet rolled her eyes in an annoyed fashion, "It's not right, gathering all our available warships in one spot."

"Too late to cancel now, may as well get this done and over." The blonde shrugged his shoulders.

"Well then, let's not miss the party."

"After you Lieutenant." Jaune gestured.

"Thanks hot shot."

Stepping out onto the large balcony, the first thing that greeted the two pilots was the sound roaring engines coming from the warship Leviathan. Warm air rushed over them as the ship made a smooth descent into the bay below for the crowd to have a better glimpse of the pride and joy that was Vale's airfleet.

"There she is, Home sweet Home." Velvet commented.

"You've been on the ground for less than two days." Jaune chuckled.

"True." She said cheerfully.

"Ah jeez, what could go wrong?" Jaune asked himself as he gazed over the railings.

As the Leviathan hovered steadily over the bay, she stood alongside her sister ships Gladiator and Colossus as they lined up in a presentable manner for the crowd. With the ASG defence turrets dotted across the city, it reminded him why Vale was still able to stand toe to toe with Atlas. While Atlas boasted quantitative airships, Vale knew it couldn't beat the sheer production power and instead opted for powerful defence guns that could deter and entire armada of airships away from the city.

It was the only thing that kept Atlas in line from exerting its influence over Vale unlike the other Kingdoms who decided to opt for other options to keep up with Atlas's military might. For six good years the ASG kept them safe, but how long would the peace last?

"Let's hope this day goes smoothly." Jaune mumbled to himself before following Velvet.

* * *

 **Welcome to end, hope the ride was enjoyable for you. Do leave a review of your thoughts if you want.**

 **Spelling and Grammatical fixes will be addressed even though I've gone through it five times already.**

 **Edit 1: I am quite aware of how fast an assault rifle would empty its magazine. Takes about 4-5 seconds to burn through one mag. For the sake of being an arcade, let's follow the principles of battlefield/Call of duty where it takes longer to empty a magazine with the minimal recoil thing.**


	2. Chapter 2: Shots Out

**Hello there, welcome back to another chapter. Seeing as how this story may as well fall under the crossover section I think I shall go ahead and change it up. But enough about that, here is more war between the Kingdoms of Remnant and oh how exciting this will be to flesh it out even further when Vale is fighting such a big opponent. Prepare to see some other familiar faces in the coming chapters, that's all PEACE!**

 **P.S Hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you have a great new years!**

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VNA Leviathan

Other aliases: Tide Mother

Length - 1,745m

Crew - 6,495

 _'The Leviathan belongs to the Damascus line of ships and is the biggest warship produced by Titan Defence Systems for the Vale Navy Air fleet and is the only ship of its kind. Boasting a plethora of dual system railguns, dozens of VLS bays and close-range rapid firing turrets packaged together with a hangar bay allows it to stand toe to toe with the best ships of the Atlesian Navy. While its existence was kept secret for a long time, it ultimately made its debut when Atlas initiated a series of proxy wars across Vacuo and Mistral that prompted Vale to interfere lest chaos was to destroy its close neighbours.'_

 _Leviathan's motto is 'Honour, Loyalty, Unity'_

* * *

 _-F.O.B Tanoa-_

Dove Bronzewing was not the bravest of souls on this planet. In fact, he would admit running away from a fight the moment he saw something remotely scary.

But that was in the past now, that was two years ago and now he was a changed man. Ever since he left Beacon to join the Army, he had been taught to overcome his fears of running away from intimidating things. While running away was considered a tactic, it wasn't the best kind as it usually ended up with you dead on the floor the next minute. The key to winning a fight is to fight smartly.

Thrown into tank school and snaking his way up the ladder, he now found himself in commanding one of Vale's only two highly advanced battle tanks.

But it seems fate wasn't finished with the young man when his former team mates from Beacon ended up becoming a part of his new crew.

"Lieutenant, we're here…" Corporal Sky Lark announced with a heavy voice.

The sound of Private First-Class Russel Thrush moving around the tank could be heard as his boots echoed on the cold metal floor.

"Take a break you two, I'll get a clean-up crew to sort out the mess." Dove sighed as he pushed the hatch open.

Exiting out into the world, the familiar breeze side of Vale's ocean came in and smacked the Lieutenant on the face. Suffice to say, the innards of the tank needed the fresh air as well due to the 'horrendous' stench it had been carrying for the past ten hours.

"Lieutenant Bronzewing Sir, glad you made it back!" A sharp looking officer greeted the battered commander who looked no younger than eighteen.

"Likewise, Sergeant, listen I'm going to need a clean-up crew on my tank. We lost one…." His face solemn while instructing the officer.

He pursed his lips into a disappointed manner, "Understood sir, Peace to the Fallen." He looked down in disappointment before composing himself, "Major Anderson is waiting for you inside."

"Thanks, Griffs." He patted the man's back before leaving him to his devices.

Walking to a nearby set of large fuel tanks, the man ducked behind the large cylinders before double checking no one saw him. Seeing that no one took notice, the serious looking Dove Bronzewing collapsed to his knees in a distressed manner.

Breathing heavily, sweat ran down the side of his head as he ran his fingers through his greasy hair. The trauma of losing a crew member especially one you've bonded with for a long time can be heart wrenching. To be take accountability for their loss was the hardest part of being a leader in the military, but letting it affect your actions and decisions instantly renders you unfit for that title.

That was why the commander kept his emotions hidden, his anger and pain. He knew he had to press on no matter the cost, this was war, and he signed up for it. To stop now would've been for nothing, especially those who looked up to him.

Collecting himself, the stout Lieutenant put on his serious look again and left his quiet spot. Entering the makeshift headquarters of the base, he walked up a flight of stairs before stopping outside a decorated door.

Knocking sharply, he waited a few seconds before a deep voice ushered him in. Complying with the order, he entered the deep scented room before closing the door shut.

It felt awkward to be standing within the room in the first place, not when he stunk like a dead pig which had been taken from a slaughter house. But the Major couldn't care less as he simply gestured him to take a seat.

"Lieutenant Bronzewing, glad you made it back in one piece. I'm sorry for the loss of your crew member." The tanned man began in a slow voice.

"Yeah, still alive and kicking sir." Dove tried to put on a brave voice but utterly failed.

The Major leaned forward, his grey eyes stared deep into the Lieutenant's, studying him carefully, "What happened Dove?"

Dove blinked for a second before breaking his gaze. His mind trying to begin the clusterfuck that was Operation Goodwill, "We were set up sir, the enemy hit us from all sides. Baited the civilians like they didn't care for them at all. Before we knew it, we lost two Ravagers to enemy fire. We returned fire of our own but that wasn't before those bastards decided to shell the village with artillery fire together with us and the civilians."

"And what happened to Lieutenant Riah?" The man narrowed his eyes even further.

"He was KIA along with the other Ravager of his platoon. We initiated a pincer movement on the enemy position, but it was too late. By the time Fenrir burnt through the lines, Riah and Gator were wiped out." He tightened his fists in regret, taking the blame for their deaths, "We wiped them all out, every last one of them sir." Dove seethed his teeth in anger.

Seeing the visible hate on the man's face, the Major understood where he was coming from as he too committed the same types of action before. Resting his arms on the table, he let out a defeated sigh.

"You did well Lieutenant, just know that. You did what you had to do to survive. It was a shame we couldn't save the village. Damn Atlesians and their collateral damage bullshit." He sneered at the last part.

"Sir, how long will we keep fighting Atlas on a silent front? Every time they set foot on foreign soil, it's always a proxy war backed by them, heck even lead by them. We've lost so much in the past two years sir. The Behemoth tanks can only be in so many places to deter their forces."

"I share the same concerns with you Lieutenant, but alas my influence can only spread so far up the board. So far Command has been keeping quiet, too quiet. Something's wrong."

"Isn't it fleet week sir? The navy is out parading all our warships to the public while the we're out here defending the borders. Our walls are going to fall any minute, all Atlas has to do is just blow and it'll all come crashing down."

The Major let out a small chuckle, "I feel you soldier. But there's nothing much we can do about it now. Our forces are all being merged into one unified army. Soon we'll all be a part of the Navy. This whole parade shenanigans is to distract the public. Instil hope and patriotism, a big middle finger to Atlas might I add."

"How long can we keep this up sir, I bet Atlas is just itching for a war. I bet they've given up trying to get Mistral on their side, they could take on all three Kingdoms if they wished."

"As much as you're right Lieutenant, Atlas can't simply jump into a full-fledged war. They need support from their people, and right now the man in charge of their country is just the perfect person to brainwash them into thinking their country is superior. If Atlas doesn't get support from its people, they can forget about starting a war. A civil war is what they'll most likely have to worry about."

A sigh came from Dove's mouth, "If a war does happen then we're screwed as we know it. Vale has less than 200,000 active personnel combined from all three services. We're just behind Mistral and yet Atlas can shove their whopping one million active personnel casually down our throats."

"We'd prefer to avoid direct conflict Bronzewing, we know we don't stand a chance, but if we're going to let Atlas simply walk over us then those bastards are wrong. Vale will not go down without a fight and we'll drag every damned Atlesian soldier with us."

A short beep buzzed the Major's desk signalling him that an important call was on the line.

"Thank you for the briefing Lieutenant, get some rest with your men, you've earned it." The man dismissed him briefly.

Replying with a salute, the Lieutenant hastily made his exit. Letting out a tired groan, he made his way down the steps and back towards his tank.

Boots sinking into the soft ground, the colossal shadow that was cast by the M98A3 Behemoth enveloped the tiny man. Gazing at the super weapon, to call it a tank was a understatement. A fast-moving battle station would be more appropriate as the thing stood 9 metres tall, spanned 38 metres in length and 16 metres in width.

Calling it overkill and impractical would've made you look like an idiot as it was the only thing that could go toe to toe against anything Atlas could throw at it. While the M46A3 Ravager made up the back bone of the Vale's MBT fleet, it was slowly being outclassed by Atlas's more advanced tanks.

"There he is, told ya he hadn't run away!" Sky smacked the shoulder of Russel in a friendly manner.

"What?! I didn't say that!" Russel glared daggers at the Sergeant before standing to attention.

"At ease soldiers, cut the formalities we're on break for now. Has Griffs cleared out the tank?" Dove asked in his ever-serious tone.

"He just finished a short while ago. Poor Pete's body is in the morgue. It's a shame he had to go, he didn't deserve it." Sky shook his head in disappointment.

"Yeah…..I'll prepare whatever belongings he has and visit his parents and partner. I'll….deliver the news." Dove said with a heavy voice, his serious tone gone for a short moment.

"What the hell was Atlas packing anyway? It's the first time I've seen them scratch, let alone penetrate regenerative Kronstdat armour." Russel asked in a dumbfounded manner.

"I don't know Russel, whatever Atlas has, we need to play it safe now. We cannot run headlong into enemy fire and take hits. From now on it'll be long range engagements and on the move. We have the speed and firepower to throw the enemy off balance, let's use it to our advantage."

Just then, an approaching figure caught Sky's eyes prompting him to signal the others of the new comer.

"Hey, guys, seems we've got company." He pointed.

As they turned around to greet their visitor, a tall young fellow roughly the same height as Russel and an average build silently greeted them.

"A-Are you Lieutenant B-Bronzewing sir?" He stuttered at first, his voice full of nervousness

"Depends who's asking. Your name soldier?" Dove eyed him sceptically.

"Private First-Class Daniel Ryans. I've been assigned to your crew sir." He croaked.

"On who's orders? How old are you?" Dove raised an eyebrow.

"Major Anderson, I'm 19 sir."

"Godammit!" Dove threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

The poor lad was so confused to the point he thought he had pissed off the Lieutenant. Suffice to say, his inexperienced self-told him to keep quiet.

"Hold up, he's the replacement for Pete?" Russel wore a shocked look.

"Fucking hell Anderson." Dove mumbled underneath his breath while eyeing the new crew member. With a loud sigh he dropped his arms and rested them on his hips, "See the thing behind me? That's your new home. This is Sergeant Lark and PFC Russel, I shouldn't remind you of your role since you've already been informed. Now go." He ordered sharply.

As Russel guided the newbie over, the trio decided to leave Dove to calm down as the man was practically about to burst any second now. For now, it seemed that Russel and Sky were the more accepting crew members.

"Don't worry about him, he gets worked up over the new ones that's all. He'll come around eventually." Sky assured him once they were out of earshot.

"Come on up and take a check out your new home." Russel gestured.

As Ryans scaled the giant technological marvel, he was carefully guided by Russel towards the access hatch before climbing down into the belly of the beast.

The interior of the tank surprised the Private as he didn't expect so much room to move about. There was enough ceiling clearance to stand up and move about freely and the individual stations weren't densely packed together and instead were laid out in order.

"This is the main compartment or deck if you want to call it. Whatever rolls off the tongue better." Russel waved his arm around the place.

"This is where all of us operate, 90% of the time you'll realize we never even leave our seats let alone the damn room." Sky commented.

"I-I see…" Ryans replied in a low voice as he looked around in awe still.

"This cozy spot right here is your station. You're our new fire control specialist and I take it you're already familiar with the systems?" Sky pointed with a raised brow.

"Yes sir," Ryans nodded firmly before pointing slowly at the black markings and giant hole that covered half the consoles, "May I ask what happened there?"

As Russel and Sky both looked at damaged module, it only brought back bad memories as the incident was barely 12 hours old. But still, they couldn't keep secrets from the new crew member.

"That's the blast that took out PFC Pete…." Russel wore a heavy look, "A good lad he was, always fired up and optimistic of things."

"Peace to the Fallen." Sky mumbled softly.

"Peace to the Fallen." They replied in unison.

"Alright, enough of the bad stuff, engineering and repair crews will sort this out soon. For now, all weapons on the right side of the tank are down while the left is still operational." Sky informed them.

"Come on, let's show you the crew quarters." Russel waved a hand before opening bulky metal door.

Snaking their way through the narrow corridors, the trio soon found themselves in a medium sized room enough to hold ten people or so. In the middle sat a large table with holographic projections detailing information. The nature of this room basically yelled 'debriefing' as it was written everywhere.

"I don't think we need to explain this one right Sergeant?" Russel asked the senior officer.

"No need too, only thing this room is used for is when shit really hits the fan. You'll be passing by this area often enough that'll you even forget it exists." Sky remarked.

"Onto the crew quarters it is then…" Russel began before opening the door.

Revealing a livelier area, the entire space had been broken up into three visible parts.

"To your right is the sleeping area and to your left is the kitchen. The room down the far right is our armoury, for when things really get desperate." Russel excitedly explained.

"What's beyond there?" Ryans pointed at the door that had a 'danger' sign on it.

"Engine room, contains the reactor powering this beast of a machine. Russel's our mechanic together with Commander Bronzewing. I'm the cook and in charge of the weapons." Sky pointed to himself with a proud grin.

"Speaking of the reactor, I'll have to do my daily maintenance check now. I'll see y'all topside." He gave a short salute before opening the door and disappearing.

"Make yourself comfortable kid, like the Commander said, this is your new home now. I'll be outside waiting, in the meantime go ahead and put your stuff in the locker and familiarize with the place." Sky instructed him before giving a sharp wink.

Outside the tank, Lieutenant Bronzewing sat atop the giant turret with a pair of binoculars. Watching the fleet parade in the distance, he envied the joyous moments being experienced by everyone over there. To think they were so blind of the events happening behind the curtains.

"Lieutenant." Sergeant Lark greeted him.

"Sergeant." He put down the tool to nod at his fellow crew member.

"Enjoying the show sir?"

"Depends, if by sitting here and watching these giant ships fly about and boast their mighty guns is enjoyable, I'd rather watch the grass grow to be honest."

"Propaganda for the entire Kingdom to eat."

"It's all about instilling that hope into our people."

"Whatever works for the public I guess."

 **-BOOM!-**

The sound of a large calibre gun discharging followed by an explosion echoed in the distance. Catching the two men off guard, the idea of firing such weapons in a city space was absurd.

"Hey? I didn't know they were doing a gun salute?" Sky commented in a confused manner.

"Somethings not right." Dove responded with dread in his voice as he peered through the binoculars.

Scanning the horizon, the ASG turrets had come to life and were apparently discharging live rounds. Quickly panning towards their target, Dove felt a chill run down his back as the rounds flew towards a friendly warship in the air.

As if things couldn't get more horrific, the warship that had come under fire exploded in a fiery blaze as its burning hulk descended into the ocean.

"Fucking hell!" Dove yelled out in shock as the blast was visible all the way from the base. The blazing wreck of the ship illuminated the sky with its orange hues as the once proud warship crashed into the ocean with an ear wrenching noise.

To make matters worse, loud shrieks filled the air as objects suddenly dotted the sky of Vale. Atlesian warships jumping directly into Vale airspace at increasing numbers, taking everyone by surprise and raining down their own fire of hell on anything that posed a threat to them. But the one thing that shook everyone to their core was the appearance of a gigantic warship that dwarfed every other ship in the vicinity.

"What the fuck is that…" Sky stared in awe as he titled his head back to gleam at the giant fortress.

"Hell Sergeant…...that is the embodiment of Hell itself…." Dove mumbled in awe.

* * *

 _-20 minutes prior-_

"Come on Arc, we're going to be late to the ceremony." Velvet urged him as she walked ahead of him.

"We still have to wait for the Admiral anyway. He'll be delivering his speech as usual." Jaune said while passing through a scanner.

"You mean his flowered and carefully peppered talk that fires up the population for about five minutes?" She chuckled lightly while descending the stairs.

"You're lucky he didn't catch you saying that." He smirked.

With a deafening wail, the sounds of powerful jet engines coursing through the air was made apparent as a Raven dropship fired up its thrusters in preparation for its passengers.

"I take it that's our ride?" She pointed.

"Sure is-" Jaune was cut off as the loud hum of engines soared overhead as another warship descended into the parade below.

"Isn't that the Trident?" She asked over the screeching noise.

"Looks like it, and in proud form too." He remarked.

"They're going all out this year, aren't they?" She commented with an observant look.

"It's all about that Propaganda Velvet, anything to please the crowd these days." He shrugged before approaching the door to the drop ship.

With a powerful push, the red lever dropped downwards, and the door slid open to reveal an empty ship save for the pilot. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, the slim figure of Velvet filled his vision briefly as she jumped aboard.

"Thank you " Velvet sang before giving him a smug look.

"Sure," He rolled his eyes before climbing aboard.

Turning around to anticipate the Admiral's arrival, he didn't have to wait long as the man of the hour was fast approaching the aircraft. Extending a helping hand, his offer was kindly declined by the Admiral saying.

"Don't worry Arc, this old goat can still climb."

A short laugh escaped Velvet's mouth towards the Admiral's kind declination towards Jaune's offer.

"Take us away Pilot." The man ordered.

'Aye sir." The man complied sharply.

As the aircraft jerked lightly, its wheels left the ground and the sturdy bird banked away from the rooftops of the VNA headquarters. Cruising over the bay and above the giant crowds the below, it was a sight to behold from up above as almost the entire capital of Vale bore witness to this great event.

"That's a lot of people." Velvet commented in awe.

"You try giving a speech in front of that many people plus national television Lieutenant Scarlatina. I can guarantee it's not enjoyable." The Admiral chuckled.

"With all due respect sir, I think I'll pass." She held a hand up.

"There's an ASG turret." Jaune pointed at the massive gun emplacement. A bulwark against Atlas.

"I wonder how long it'll be before Atlas bites the bullet and invades us. Let's hope our guns make them reconsider otherwise." Admiral Glauca said in a heavy tone.

As the drop ship cruised over the gun, the passengers within paid little attention to the ASG turret as it began turning in their direction. By now the Faunus aboard the craft noticed the odd behaviour and stared in confusion.

"Umm…sir? That ASG gun, it's pointing at us." Velvet said in an alarmed tone while pointing at the behemoth.

"What? What the hell is the ASG tower doing?" The Admiral frowned before whipping out his scroll.

As a chilling feeling shot up Velvet's spine, she feared the worst of what was about to happen next.

"Sir! The gun's about to fire!"

"What?!" Jaune said in disbelief before looking at the turret.

The events that came next was beyond heart pumping as the ASG turret opened up with its powerful single shot meant to tear through a ships hull. Even though the Raven dropship was smaller than a ship, it still posed as a sizable target.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" Jaune barked at the pilot.

Reacting to the alarming order, the Pilot banked the aircraft into a hard turn but was too late. As the deadly shot from the ASG turret whizzed by like a lightning bolt, the shockwave left behind by the round tore through the cockpit and killed the pilot instantly.

Waves of deafening sounds hit the passengers as they were thrown side ways from the brute strength of the shockwave alone.

"Shit!" Jaune muttered as he scrambled back up amidst the chaos.

"I've got the controls!" Velvet yelled before jumping into the pilot's chair and yanking on the joystick.

"The ASG is opening up on our fleet!" Jaune said in horror as explosions erupted all around them.

"All stations shots fired at the ASG control tower! I say again SHOTS FIRED at the ASG control tower!" The radio operator screamed into the channel.

"Atlas warships!" Velvet yelled while pointing at the large objects outside the cockpit.

"All stations this is not a drill, We are under attack! Divert and Deploy all assets immediately!" Admiral Glauca yelled into his scroll.

Outside amongst the ensuing chaos, the first kill had been claimed followed by a gut-wrenching noise as the warship Tigris tore through a building like it was nothing and crashed into the water in a fiery heap.

Alarms ringing wildly and alert lights flashing like there's no tomorrow, the Faunus girl wrestled with the out of control aircraft as it rapidly descended towards the ground.

"Pull up!" Jaune yelled determinedly as he joined her and yanked on the joystick.

"No joy! I can't control her!"

Defying the will of gravity, the duo managed to bring the aircraft out of its deadly descent but not before another danger presented itself. This time, there was no avoiding it.

"We're coming down, BRACE!" Velvet screamed before the aircraft crashed through a glass roof with a loud bang.

…

Ears deafened into oblivion, the inside of Jaune's head felt like mush as the man struggled to regain his senses. Struggling to catch his breath, he opened his eyes slowly but was greeted with a low blur. Senses coming back together, the high deafening noise in his ears were slowly being drowned out by another horrifying sound.

The high-pitched wails of civilians screaming in fear rocked him to his inner core, it was the most dreaded sound an individual could listen too. Straightening his vision, he felt his stomach tighten as an Atlesian dropship came down into what seemed to be a shopping centre, or what's left of it.

Seeing soldiers disembark in a rapid fashion, his anger and fear grew as they aimed their guns at civilians and gunned them down without mercy. Women, children, men, no matter the age they were all slaughtered without a second thought.

Attempting to stop the massacre happening before him, he was too late as the soldiers noticed him and made it their priority to kill him. Watching them approach with killing intent, he knew he didn't have much time.

"Arc!" A familiar voice called at him.

Looking to his left, Velvet threw him a pistol and he instinctively caught the sidearm. Time slowed down for him as he didn't bother to aim the weapon and pointed it in the general direction of the enemy soldiers.

Finger already on the trigger, he pulled on it to his heart's content and the weapon jerked violently as it discharged round after round.

 _-BANG!-_

 _-BANG!-_

 _-BANG!-_

Firing in conjunction with Velvet, the two made short work of the approaching soldiers and watched as their bodies fell to the floor riddled in small arms fire.

"Let's get out of here!" He nodded at her.

Crawling out from the wrecked aircraft, the duo quickly scrambled towards the fallen soldiers and picked up their rifles. Doing a quick sweep of the surroundings, the screams of civilians up ahead dictated there were many more enemies.

"Arc, what's the situation?!" The authoritative voice of the admiral barked.

"Admiral Glauca, sir! Situation is critical, we have Atlesian troops dropping in and murdering civilians left and right. I don't know what else is happening, we need to move out of this building and contact command." Jaune informed him.

"Understood, I'll contact command and break a path through for us. Just watch my six you two." He nodded at them.

"Yes sir!" They replied in unison.

"Good, then let's greet these icy bastards!" He growled before a liquidate type of metal began forming around him.

The final product of the mysterious substance shrouded the Admiral in a mobile exosuit that allowed him to tank several hits. Brandishing a menacing broadsword, the Admiral made haste with his new abilities and charged forward with his suit.

Using the built-in rocket boosters, the bulky figure moved like a bullet around the battlefield as he dropped right into a squad of armed Atlesian soldiers.

"Take the ones on the balcony, the Admiral will deal with ones on the ground!" Jaune barked before aiming the rifle.

Firing the energy-based weapon, the laser bolts screamed unintelligible noises as it soared through the air. Hitting their targets dead on, the bolts melted through the enemy armour and burnt their flesh resulting in instant death.

As Velvet already gunned down two soldiers, Jaune was well onto his second kill when the enemies up on the balcony had already been taken out before he knew it. Glancing at the Admiral, he finished running a sword through the last man before pulling out the bloodied blade.

"Let's move!" His atlered voice ordered.

Leaping up onto the second floor and charging headlong into the fray, Jaune and Velvet exchanged displeased looks as they had didn't have their suits on with them. Scaling the stairs as fast as they could, the duo appeared outside and bore witness to more chaos.

Enemy aircraft screamed by as they buzzed the area for close air support while dropships came in from all angles, it was made clear that this was a full-scale invasion. The skies were littered with smoke and flames burned excessively as any airborne warships slugged it out with the each other while dealing with the ASG turrets below.

"Atlas is breaking for the tower!" Velvet shouted out.

"They're landing troops everywhere!" Jaune said as he scanned the horizon.

"We need to secure that tower and bring the ASG turret back under our control! That's all that matters now!"

"Gun's aren't going cut it." Velvet said.

"We going to need anti-personnel weapons for this." Jaune remarked.

"I've just gotten word there's a VNA station sitting near the ASG tower, they're dug in an giving the enemy hell. We need to make our way there before the enemy runs them over!" The Admiral instructed the duo.

"Understood sir!" They responded sharply.

"Let's go!" The Admiral cried out before kicking the gate open.

Stepping out into a ravaged street, a dropship just took off from the pier below and more troops began making their way up onto the street. Not wasting another moment, the duo quickly aimed their rifles down onto the soldiers below and unloaded every bit of their magazine.

As the soldiers ducked for cover, those who reacted too late were cut down without mercy by their own weapons. Before the enemy had a chance to return fire, the Admiral dropped down below and cut down the stragglers.

As more enemy fire came from the direction of the ram shackled street, the Admiral made haste and leapt into the air before continuing his onslaught. Vaulting over the stairway, the two Lieutenants dropped their weapons only to pick up new ones again.

Chasing after their Admiral, the duo went up onto the main street and ducked for cover as enemies fired wildly in their direction. Returning fire of their own, their ears rang like there's no tomorrow as the energy bolts sung their hymns through the air.

Deciding to flank the enemies, Jaune stayed low behind the car and made his way towards the other end. Peeking out, he spotted the Admiral drawing the attention of the soldiers and capitalised the moment.

Knowing Velvet would follow his lead anyway, he jumped out of cover and aimed at the nearest enemy. Squeezing the trigger, he gunned down the soldier before jumping to a new target. Repeating the same process, another target fell.

Before they knew it, the street had been cleared and they could press on again. Trailing after the Admiral, they travelled through a different street before trouble came again.

"Dropship!" Velvet yelled before diving to cover.

Doing the same, Jaune dived for the nearest form of cover as the enemy gunship opened fire while offloading troops. Energy bolts whizzing by and pinning them down, there was nothing the duo could do in the meantime but wait it out.

"I'll handle the son of a bitch, clean up the stragglers!" The Admiral growled before jumping towards the dropship like a mad beast.

Tanking all the heavy fire, the energy bolts did little damage other than leave burn marks on the advanced suit. Crashing into the ship, the engines croaked in response as the sudden impact forced the ship downwards.

Ripping the aircraft apart with his bare hands, the Admiral tore through the right wing of the drop ship before coming down with a fiery blast. Engulfing the streets in flames, anybody who stood below the craft were well and truly dead.

Moving up from towards the wreckage, the two Lieutenants watched in awe as the Admiral emerged unscathed from the burning hulk and picked up his sword like it was a normal Tuesday. Their minor victory was short lived as gunfire started up again and more civilians screamed in fear.

Rushing towards cover, the three-man team found themselves in a small courtyard littered with enemies closing in on them.

"I'll draw their fire, take out the ones camping within the buildings." Glauca instructed them over the gunfire before charging into the fray.

"You heard him, let's move!" Jaune said before vaulting over the barrier.

Sprinting like a mad man, the blonde executed a power slide and cowered behind a wall. Seeing the Admiral deal with the enemies on the ground, Jaune aimed high and spotted his first target. Squeezing the trigger, the energy rifle roared as the bolts tore through their target.

Breaking out from cover, he quickly vaulted over a low wall as energy bolts flew in his direction. Ducking inside the building, he made a beeline towards the stairs and swept the interior of the building. Heart racing at an all time high, he kept his cool and focused on the task at hand.

Coming up onto the second floor, an Atlesian soldier hung his gun out the window and blazed away at whatever moved below. Raising his rifle, Jaune pulled the trigger and watched as the man fell out the window with an ear-piercing scream.

Holstering the sturdy rifle, he picked up an abandoned ballistic rifle of Vale origin. Aiming it out the window, he spotted the last remaining target in the building across him. Firing the weapon with deadly precision, the sound alone deafened his ears while the bullets hit their mark.

"On me!" The Admiral barked.

Vaulting through the window, he landed on the ground with a smooth roll and jogged up to his squad. Making their way down the steps, they found themselves near the bay again but another problem steamed headlong towards them.

"That's the Sampson!" Jaune shouted in fear as the ship came hurdling down towards the water.

Watching the behemoth of a ship crash into the ocean, the impact generated enough wave force to push nearby smaller vessels towards them. As the makeshift tsunami hurdled towards them at great speeds, the trio had limited time to react.

"Go right! Go right!" Velvet barked indistinctively as she made a run for the street ahead of them.

Pushing himself to the limits, Jaune ran for all his worth as the tidal wave was about to hit and carried a large yacht as its bearing gift. Running onto the new street, it started in an uphill ascension and proved to defeat the oncoming wave as it came over the walls.

Seeing the sea water run past his boots, his speed was severely reduced as the water level rose to his knees before receding. Making his way up the road, the trio found themselves at an intersection that was dearly abandoned.

Gunfire still audible nearby; the enemy presence was still at large as the screams of civilians were painstakingly audible. Just then a high-pitched wail came from the building in front of them signalling trouble.

"Arc, Scarlatina, get ready to breach!" The Admiral ordered them.

Complying with a silent nod, Jaune pressed against the door as his hand reached for the handle. Slowly opening the door, he was first presented with a light scuffle as an Atlesian soldier knocked a woman to the floor.

Gritting his teeth in anger, he shoved the door open all the way before firing at the soldier in a fit or rage.

"Enemies!"

"I see them!"

"Watch for civilians!" Glauca reminded them.

Pressing forward valiantly, two civilians came around the corner in a screaming fit. Knowing that the enemy was just a little way beyond, Jaune and Velvet crouched low as they spotted three targets in the room below.

Aiming for the one behind the bar, the blonde squeezed the trigger and watched as the bullets made short work of the man. Taking fire in return, he ducked back down and re-joined Velvet. Offering an optimistic smile, the enemy had stopped firing and it was their cue to shoot back.

Peeking out from their cover, they both wore a look of killing intent as they picked their targets and mercilessly gunned them down. Seeing that his target had ducked behind cover and took only a hit, he vaulted over the railing and rushed his opponent.

Rounding the corner, he aimed his rifle at the injured soldier and fired without hesitation. Turning away with a cold look, he wondered if the soldier offered the same loos when he gunned down innocent civilians.

Exiting the café, the trio found themselves amongst another courtyard with dead ends everywhere. Beyond the walls lay the ASG control tower that was no more than a few minutes' walk away. With no obvious path, the team had to improvise.

"This way, I'll help you over the walls." Glauca gestured with his head before boosting himself atop the concrete barrier.

Extending a hand, Velvet kept watch while Jaune was haled up over the barrier. Landing onto a different part of the city, civilians flooded the streets as they tried to escape from a danger invisible to them. More aircraft buzzed over head at dangerously low altitudes.

The danger was made clear however as another Vale warship came crashing down into a part of the city.

"That's the Innova!" Jaune pointed in disbelief, almost defeated to be exact, as he witnessed the ship glide overhead before crashing loudly in another district.

The impact alone generated so much dust clouds that it flooded their entire position and blocked the morning sunlight from passing through. Ears ringing from the deafening crash, Jaune's vision was obscured and his breathing congested from the myriad of foreign substance in the air.

Coughing erratically, the blonde looked around for Velvet who suffered from the same problems. Amongst them, the Admiral stood unscathed as he

"I'll take point." The Admiral said before activating his helmet searchlights.

Following their guide, Jaune and Velvet eyed their surroundings in shock as civilians stumbled through the ashy darkness in a lost state. Some collapsed onto the road and just gave up while others stared blankly as they walked past.

"This way, up the stairs." He pointed.

As the sounds of heavy objects descended rapidly into parts of the area up ahead, it spelled more resistance for the trio.

"Hear that? Sounds like trouble." Velvet informed them.

"I hear it too, eyes up." Jaune replied cautiously.

Hustling through a series of alleyways, the group stumbled onto another courtyard thrown into chaos as fresh enemy troops landed in the form of drop pods.

"Contact! Knights!" Velvet yelled before rushing for cover.

"Flank them!" Glauca said before leaping into fray and unleashing a volatile electric discharge.

Executing a power slide, Jaune braced himself against the walls that over looked the courtyard. Moving atop the area, he spotted two soldiers moving up the stairs in order to flank the Admiral with heavy weaponry.

Denying them the chance, Jaune laid down suppressive fire on them and cut down the two soldiers. Denying any more reinforcements from climbing up the stairs, his gun went dry quickly prompting him to duck back into cover.

Realizing he had no more magazines for the ballistic rifle, he tossed the weapon aside and drew the energy rifle of Atlesian origin. Peeking from his post, he ducked back in as energy bolts chipped away at the barrier shielding him.

Spotting another set of cover, the enemy continued to lay down suppressive fire in his general direction until they ran out of ammunition. Executing a risky roll, he shifted cover and missed the energy bolts by a hair's length.

Acquiring a better look on his enemies, a soldier and two Knights pushed up from the stairs and gunned straight for him. Knowing they were clustered together, he quickly drew a grenade from his pouch and pulled the pin.

Tossing the tiny cylinder of death, the enemy soldier screamed "Grenade!" before audibly diving for cover. As the grenade exploded, Jaune's ears rang an ear deafening sound. Ignoring the effects, he came out from cover and fired at the Knights.

Turning the damaged robots into scrap heap, they fell apart faster than your knockoff brands from the Mistrali market. Vaulting over a stack of boxes, he jumped over another crate and landed a flying kick on the soldiers helmet.

Knocking him to the floor, Jaune drew his pistol and fired three shots into the man's head. Letting his rage get the better of him, he allowed it to happen as a means of payback against the enemy.

Re-joining his squad, Velvet and the Admiral made quick work of the enemies in the courtyard judging from the many piles of scrapped Knights lying about. Pressing on without a word, the ASG tower stood dead ahead and was ripe for the taking.

"Atlantis this is Top Gun, I need you to provide fire support when we launch our counterattack on the ASG tower. How copy?" The Admiral spoke into his comms.

"Solid Copy Admiral, Atlantis is standing by. I must warn you Admiral we are being torn up here especially by that capital ship!" The officer replied on the public channel.

"Top Gun this is Gold team, we are currently entrenched outside the ASG tower and keeping the enemy at bay. Awaiting your orders sir."

"Gold team await my arrival and ready your men for an assault. We need to reclaim that tower if our fleet even so wishes to have a fighting chance."

"Understood sir!"

Stopping before a giant rubble, a stack of burning cars and a ruined building blocked their access route towards the tower.

"Through here!" Velvet gestured as she found an opening.

"I'll get rid of the rubble." The Admiral said before lifting the large piece of wood blocking their access.

"VNA forces! Blue, Blue!" Velvet raised her hands in the air as a friendly soldier approached them.

"Friendlies coming through!" The soldier informed his friends.

"Lieutenant Arc, I want your Ravens in the air ready to provide CAS support for our assault." Glauca waved a finger at him.

"Understood sir!" Jaune nodded before jumping down into the basement turned emergency medical bay for the wounded, "Leviathan this is 1-1."

"Go for Leviathan 1-1." The Officer replied.

"Diaz, I need SCARs 3 airborne for interdiction, call for fire to follow." Jaune requested.

"Copy that Lieutenant, time to target 1 mike."

"Top Gun to Gold, air support is inbound for suppression, once they come in we're taking this hill!"

"Roger Top Gun! Golds are in place!"

Making their way out of the basement and into an explosion made crater, Jaune witnessed the sheer power of the Atlesian navy firsthand as they jotted the air with their sheer number alone. Coupled together with the fact that their mothership lurking not far away posed a menacing threat to all.

Throwing the enemy rifle he scavenged earlier, both Jaune and Velvet helped themselves to a nearby weapons cache and armed themselves with Vale's finest tools of death. Securing a few grenades, he holstered a few magazines to his vest and was ready to assault the ASG tower alongside his fellow warriors.

Joining the Admiral, the armoured man gave a sharp nod before opening his comms channel.

"Atlantis, weapons free!"

"Let's get to the tower – GO, GO, GO!" Jaune signalled.

As the entrenched soldiers burst forth from their positions, the flagship of Admiral Glauca soared overhead in a damaged, but still fighting, state. As the warship revealed her entire starboard side, the myriad of heavy weaponry present on the ship responded in fury as all hell broke loose.

Hammering the grounds of the ASG towers, the enemy soldiers that had dug themselves in comfortably were incinerated in a fiery blaze as the Atlantis unleashed a devastating broadside of her heavy weaponry.

As the flagship did her job, the warship quickly pulled away from the site and returned to the battle above in the heavens as she valiantly bared her fangs to those that threatened her homeland.

Those that survived the deadly barrage showed major resistance as they dug in and opened fire on the assaulting troops. It seems the enemy was determined to hold their ground to the bitter end even if it meant dying bitterly

Heart beating profoundly fast, Jaune felt the adrenaline rush clearer than ever. By normal standards he would've been exhausted, but it was different right now. He needed to press on, he needed to keep fighting. For the sake of his country, for the sake of his people and more importantly, for the sake of those he cared around him.

Charging under a hail of continuous machine gun fire, Jaune executed a power slide and bunched up against a wrecked APC as the Admiral jumped forward into the chaos. Taking the flanking route, Jaune watched every now and then as the Admiral carved path towards the tower with brute force while the marines that followed him handled the stragglers.

Moving around the right side, the bullets kept flying madly in his direction as the enemy gunners sprayed their shots blindly. Stomping across the hot land, the once lush green pastures was now overturned and only dirt and small craters remained.

"Enemy drop pods!" Velvet shouted out loud.

Thanks to Velvet's warning, the friendly troops in the area scattered as the transports crashed down into the ground and deployed additional reinforcements and more Knights.

"Good eye Velvet!" Jaune complimented here while opening fire on a moving grunt.

Making his way up a small incline, he kept low and returned fire whenever he could. Pushing slowly with the friendly soldiers, grenades were tossed wildly at them and exploded nonstop. Ears ringing from the deafening noise, Jaune was determined to press forward.

Rifle jerking in his hand, he scored another kill as the enemy soldier stumbled towards the ground. Spotting a grenade being thrown in his direction, he quickly used his reflexes and caught the explosive. Throwing the bundle of death back, the thing exploded violently in the distance.

"This is 3-1 waiting for your mark!" The pilot buzzed on Jaune's radio.

"On you Arc!" Velvet said over the firing of her gun.

Diving for the nearest cover, Jaune activated his wrist mounted module and brought up a tracking HUD. Displaying the myriad of troops dug in on the hill, he was taken aback at first but resumed focus. Designating all the targets picked up by his scanner, he finalised the input before giving the go signal.

"Targets designated, request for fire!"

"Roger, target acquired, inbound hot!"

Glancing at the enemy troops dug in around their crashed drop ship, the familiar sounds of a Ravens engines filled Jaune's ears as the aircraft hovered close by.

"Shots out, Shots out!" The pilot yelled before unleashing his payload.

Heavy machinegun fire followed by multiple missile salvos, the enemy soldiers that once held the downed dropship were no more a they were mercilessly cleared out by the sheer firepower of the Raven strike craft.

"Good hits 3-1!"

"Copy – shaking bandits out!"

"Keep pushing forward!" The Admiral urged his troops.

"We're moving up Arc!" Velvet said as she ran past him.

"All stations this is battle station Fenrir ready to lend fire support, give us targets over."

"Lieutenant Arc, use that battle station to your advantage!" Glauca uttered to him as he relentlessly tore apart another Atlesian Knight.

"Battle station Fenrir this is Lieutenant Arc, sync to my feed and await my orders for fire support!" He yelled over the constant gunfire.

"Acknowledged Lieutenant, we await further instructions."

Spotting an enemy soldier going for his fallen weapon, Jaune didn't have to think twice as his gun roared to life and cut down the soldier like an animal. Seeing more flee towards the safety of the fortified stairwell leading to the tower, he picked off whatever stragglers he could see with careful precision.

"Enemy transport in the AO!" A marine informed them.

Glancing at the menacing drop ship, it housed multiple Atlesian Knights that, if deployed, would severely hamper their assault and burn precious time. Noticing that the Admiral was occupied with more ground troops, now was the time to put their new support friend to use. To top it off, the continuous fire coming from the aircraft pinned them down.

"Fenrir this is 1-1, requesting fire for support!" Jaune said while designating the target, "Target marked, requesting fire for effect."

"Target marked, shots out, shots out!"

With a deafening shriek buzzing through the air, the sound would forever leave a lasting impression on Jaune as the rounds from the battle station ripped through the drop ship like it was nothing. Exploding into a fiery blaze, the aircraft drifted away before crashing mindlessly into the ground.

"Good hits Fenrir!"

"Copy that."

"This is 3-1 on standby awaiting for your marks sir."

"Roger 3-1!" Jaune acknowledged the pilot before bringing up his targeting HUD. Designating several more troops, he punched in the coordinates and waited for the fireworks, "3-1, targets marked!"

'Solid copy, inbound for gun run."

As another grenade exploded a few metres ahead of him, he poked out of cover and fired at another enemy soldier who had been dazed by the grenade blast. Pushing forward, he made it past more wreckage and towards the outdoor rundown cafeteria.

"Guns, Guns, Guns!" The Raven pilot shouted before firing his weapons.

As the aircraft gunned down the second wave of defensive positions and makeshift structures, the enemy soldiers ditched their positions and made a full retreat towards the last bastion that was the stairwell which accessed the ASG tower.

"Good affect on targets 3-1!" Jaune shouted through the intercom as more explosions erupted around him and bodies were tossed into the air like nothing.

"Form up! The tower is dead ahead, we will break the enemy here and now!" The Admiral roared through the radio.

Meeting up with Velvet at the base of the stairs, she gave a firm nod as to signal him to take point. Complying with the silent order, the blonde carefully scaled the stairs with his rifle raised.

Bearing witness to another kill, an Atlesian Knight kicked a downed allied soldier into the wall and instantly killed the poor fellow.

Seeing another Knight vault over the railings to intercept him, he quickly aimed his rifle at the approaching threat and fired in a flurry of anger. Tearing the robot apart with his remaining bullets, the gun made the distinct _-click -_ sound.

Ripping the empty magazine out, he fished out a fresh one and hastily loaded it into the rifle. Chambering the round in, he noticed the remaining Knight aiming its rifle at him. Deciding to dive for the nearest cover, he stopped mid-way as the robot was gunned down by friendly fire.

"Thanks." He said mid breath towards Velvet.

"You owe me on that one." She winked before dashing forward.

Rolling his eyes, he raced after her and swept the area before stumbling across the enemies last bastion of defence. Immediately diving for cover, the soldiers atop the stairs opened fire from the safety of their mounted guns.

Glass shattering and bullets screaming by, making a whip crack every tenth of a second. Moving down the steps, the blonde crouched low and brought up his targeting HUD. Marking the enemies through the scanner, he imputed the coordinates before radioing the jet.

"3-1 targets marked, request for fire support!"

"Roger that, 3-1 is inbound."

With the roar of its powerful engines, the VTOL jet made another appearance with all weapons drawn. Unleashing a deadly barrage from its twin 30mm cannons followed by rapid thunderous missile strikes, what was left of the stairwell reflected the death dealing arsenal of the Raven fighter jets.

"Good hits 3-1!"

"Copy that, bugging out!"

"Form up and push through the doors, the enemies are on their last legs now!" Admiral Glauca shouted ferociously as he cleared a path through the wreckage.

"This is it Arc, we're almost through!" She told him under her tired breath.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" He said while dashing towards the wall for cover.

As heavy energy fire barrelled through the door, the marines taking point sporadically dived for cover to avoid certain death. Unfortunately, not all were lucky as some were brutally cut down by the intense energy bolts. Their anguish and pained noises only further fuelled the fires around them as their battle brothers were determined to exact their vengeance.

With a pause in the enemy's suppressive fire, the marines broke out of their cover and showed their brutal fury as they leapt and dashed forward with the assistance of their exo suits. Sweeping the battlefield like mad hyenas, they relentlessly cut down whatever enemy was present.

Following the spearheaded assault, a target fell into the blonde's vision and his sights immediately went up. The next second, a burst of bullets escaped the barrel as his gun jerked from the recoil after sending its deathly regards.

The air was heavy with the stench of gunpowder and smoke, its scent etched deep into the heart of every warrior on the battlefield. A constant reminder of their daily lives and the dangers it possessed. But such was the reality of war, and this war was just beginning.

Gunning down another soldier, his senses were off the charts as more soldiers filled his vision. Snapping his sights to the nearest on, he fired again and scored a direct hit. Adjusting his aim, his heart skipped a beat as the soldier he was aiming at already has his rifle aimed.

Seeing his head shatter into pieces, he glanced towards the shooter and found Velvet giving him a friendly nod. Returning the gesture, the duo pressed on behind the rampaging marines before securing the entire courtyard before the main control room.

"Gold team, secure this area and make sure none of those Atlesian bastards make it through! Arc, Scarlatina, on me!" Admiral Glauca ordered sharply.

"Understood Admiral, marines, set up defensive positions!" The squad leader ranted.

Jogging after the Admiral, the duo kept a sharp lookout for any surprise attacks as they breached the building. Seeing that the control room was dead ahead, the group rushed towards the door and prepared for breach.

"On your go Admiral." Jaune nodded at him.

"Time for payback." He growled.

Guns at the ready, the heavily armoured titan gave a mighty kick towards the door that produced an ear-shattering noise for days to come. Surprising the combatants inside, the Admiral charged head first into ones nearest the console to warrant them of any more damage.

Sweeping the sides, Jaune and Velvet fired with deadly accuracy as the swiftly cut down the combatants hanging away from the console. Not five seconds had passed, and the room had been cleared and the ASG tower was now under their control again.

"Arc, get on that console and bring the guns back under our control! I'll handle this slick son of a bitch." The Admiral promptly instructed him.

Hastily diving for the primary console, Jaune's fingers moved as quick as they could as he ordered the system to do a full purge of the virus that had currently over taken. Within minutes the ASG turrets were back under VNA control.

"All stations, this is SCARs 1, ASG turrets are back under our control! I say again, ASG turrets are back under our control!"

"Let's see who you are you nifty piece of shit." Velvet sneered at him while ripping the survivor's id off.

Swiping the card on a nearby reader, the console displayed a variety of personal details on the man.

"Joseph Kahn, engineering department for two years." She read out.

"Atlesian sleeper cell, they've been preparing for this for a long time now." Jaune chipped in.

The shady man let out a small laugh, "That is Commander Kahn to you uncultured swines." He jeered at them, "You are only delaying the inevitable. Your capital city lies in ruins, your air fleet in shambles and your armies are nothing but more than a visible mess! This isn't a war, it's a one-sided massacre and you all will die sooner or later. Our great leader and Admiral will lay waste to each and every one of your cities, big or small. You all will submit! Atlas praveleo!"

"I've had enough of your ramblings, silence!" Admiral Glauca growled before giving a light-hearted punch that knocked the visible teeth out of him.

"Kill me now, I have lived my duties. Death is no disgrace!" He wheezed while uttering a struggled chuckle.

"Very well then." Glauca cocked his head in a ready manner.

Brandishing his broadsword, the Admiral raised the weapon high into the air and prepared to deliver the final blow. For commander Kahn, he merely closed his eyes and wore a satisfied smile, his duties accomplished for the great empire.

With a sharp noise being emitted, the broadsword cleaved through the man's neck and severed it from his body. Blood gushing forth like a mountain, the body rolled over to the floor while the head lay on the ground in a peaceful state.

"Lieutenants, I want you in the air with your Ravens. We need to clear the skies of these infestations and deter them from harming our civilians any longer. Our ground forces are evacuating civilians to the Centurion as we speak. We need to keep the enemy off their backs and push them out of our air space."

"Understood sir!" They replied in unison.

"Nomad to Main, Lieutenant Scarlatina and I need birds." Jaune spoke into his comms.

"Aye sir, 3-1 will escort them to your positions now."

Walking out the front doors, the duo waited patiently as they watched their Ravens swoop in and land comfortably on the roads. Overhead, their mother ship, VNA Leviathan, cruised slowly with visible damage to her port and starboard sides.

"That's our ride." Velvet commented.

Running towards their respective crafts, the specialist pilots boarded their vehicles and strapped themselves in for a wild ride. Flipping the main terminal switch, the onboard computer systems sprung to life as the rest of the aircraft roared to life.

Putting his helmet on, the systems displayed all green across the board and the sequence to take off was initiated. Easing the throttle forward, the plane rocked lightly as it rose in the air and gave Jaune a better view of the damage Atlas had done.

"Look what they did to us Arc." Velvet said, a tinge of great sorrow in her voice.

Buildings were still on fire and chaos ran rampant across every sector of the city. The wreckage of once proud warships now lay in the water or cities as their hulls slowly fell apart. The seeds of destruction had been sowed and it was only just the beginning.

"Let's pay them back then." He determinedly said.

"All stations, this is the Leviathan, we are currently in pursuit of retreating enemy fleet but are losing ground. We need to move to higher altitudes in order to reach them."

"One-two copy, let's go get them."

Without another word being uttered, Jaune disengaged the VTOL mode of the aircraft and plunged the throttle forward. Engaging the afterburners, the aircraft barrelled forward as it broke the sound barrier. Linking up with other fighter squadrons from other warships, the entire VNA pursued the retreating enemy forces.

Climbing rapidly, the altimeter displayed that they were now 30km above sea level which was beyond anything a normal aircraft could achieve.

"All units level out and spread out. Keep the fighters off our ships so they can handle the enemy warships. Once the fighters are done for, go and pick the enemy apart." Jaune spoke into the intercom.

"Incoming fire!" Velvet yelled into the radio.

Jerking the joystick to a hard right, the aircraft banked a hard turn and avoided the deadly auto-cannon fire. As his alarms started blaring, his HUD screamed at him telling him of approaching missiles. Deploying his flares, he pulled away as the projectiles of death exploded for the bait.

"Incoming Raptors, engaging!" A pilot informed them.

"Nomad go for the ones on the left, I'll assist."

"Copy that Widow."

Adjusting his throttle, he banked the aircraft towards the approaching fighters and gunned the engines. Sky rocketing towards the enemy planes, he was met with sporadic laser fire as the combatants attempted to shoot him down.

Replying kindly with his own arsenal, a series of bay doors opened up to reveal a wide range of missiles. Zooming past the fighters, he reduced the throttle and pulled hard on the joystick to execute a tight turn.

Having the rear end of the enemy planes, his targeting module automatically locked onto as many targets as it could. Pressing the release button, a stream of missiles left the launch bay and barrelled towards their designated targets.

Flares littered the skies as enemy pilots engaged their countermeasures desperately. While some managed to ward off the projectiles, others weren't so lucky as their aircraft burst into a fiery blaze.

Trailing a surviving plane, the ace pilot kept a steady hand as his sights lined up with the enemy plane. As the enemy pilot attempted to throw him off course, the two men executed a series of acrobatic manoeuvres through the sky while chaos ensued around them.

As his targeting module gave the green light, his thumb mashed the fire button and a stream of bullets burst forth from his main cannons. Ripping through the fragile body of plane, the entire aircraft burst into flames as it spiralled out of control.

As the slug fest carried out in the skies, the Leviathan charged up her trump card of a weapon in an attempt to lessen the number of enemy war ships in the sky while clearing path towards the mother ship.

Fusion beam charged and ready, a loud ear-piercing shriek filled the skies as the constant energy stream of bright light coming from the warship's bow disintegrated the enemy ship. Rendering the enemy warship null, its remnants plummeted below the clouds, never to be seen again.

Fighting with the ferocity of a thousand bloodthirsty warriors, the more highly advanced, and armoured, warships of the VNA carved a clean path towards the mother ship that stood as an eyesore for the defending party.

Guns firing non-stop and missiles soaring about and battering their targets, the four ships that valiantly remained in service pushed forward with murderous intent.

"All stations focus fire on the mother ship! I want to wipe that stain off the face of this planet!" The Admiral decreed.

"This is Dagwood White to all aircraft, we're on approach together with Dagger squadron to handle to enemy fighters. We'll take it from here boys."

"Copy that Dagwood White. You heard the man, rally up and support our fleet!" Jaune ordered through the radio.

Banking the aircraft into a full turn, the remaining jets that survived the last ditched defence formed up into small pockets as they burned their thrusters towards the giant mother ship.

"More ships on the radar!" A pilot pointed out.

"Seems like we stirred the hornet's nest, what's our approach sir?"

"Move up into defensive formations and get ready to intercept. Go for the weak points on the ships, target the bridge and engines. The faster we clear their defensive screen, the less of a beating our fleet can take." Jaune said.

"All call signs I'm picking up heavy activity from the mother ship. Her main weapons are coming online, advise caution!"

As Jaune tensely gripped the joystick, he could see visibly just how many weapons lined the starboard side of the behemoth. With that much visible firepower there was no hope that any of their ships would survive the barrage let alone get close enough to do any damage.

"Incoming!" Velvet yelled.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" Jaune quickly muttered before banking his aircraft into a hard turn.

As the horizon lit up with a bright light, the sheer firepower of the mother ship alone blanketed the ram shackled fleet. Fires broke out across all ships as the external hulls burned brightly, smoke poured out from various sections as the fleet took a punishing blow.

Battered but not defeated, the navy pressed on, determined to take down the enemy before them. With their hulks set ablaze, their engines only roared louder as the proud ships weathered the incoming fire while returning barrages of their own.

Doing his level best to avoid stray rounds flying in his direction, Jaune kept a steady beat on the gun horizon while moving erratically to increase his odds of survival. Seeing the other planes do the same, it wasn't long now before they were within striking distance.

"Leviathan use your fusion beam to take out those guns and make it quick!" The Admiral squabbled over the sporadic gunfire.

"Weapons hot!" The gunner informed over the channel.

Emitting a bright flash, the high energy laser shot out from the bow and impacted the mother ship visibly. Swinging the deadly beam in an arc, the shot carved out the entire deck it aimed for. Dealing a significant blow to the enemy, it boosted the morale of everyone.

"Critical hit on the enemy!" The gunner cheered over the channel.

"It's not over yet, let's drive the knife deeper!" Captain Fletcher said.

"All stations, dangerous activity detected. Major fluctuations appearing on the scanners, its coming from the mother ship!"

"God damn how many trick cards do these bastards possess!?" The Admiral asked in a frustrated manner.

"I'm detecting a large sum of energy building up on the starboard, could be a super weapon of sorts?" The operator said in an unsure tone.

"Eyes up, get ready for another round." Velvet instructed the squad.

"All stations emergency evasion, I say again all units emergency evasions. The enemy is about to unleash an EMP attack!" The Operator yelled into the channels

"What?! With their fleet still in the AO?" The Admiral said in a dumbstruck manner

"I don't think they care about the fleet; blast wave is enough to hit the capital city and knock down all electronics for the next few hours." Captain Ferran butted in.

"Damn it! All stations you heard the man, get the hell out of the AO!"

"There's not enough time, they're firing!" Captain Fletcher pointed out.

"Everyone start climbing!" Jaune barked before yanking his joystick upwards.

Pushing the throttle to the limit, he flipped the afterburner switch and felt his entire body sink into his chair. Climbing rapidly, the aircraft rattled and groaned as it was pushed to its limits.

"Brace!" An officer audibly yelled over the open channel.

With a loud deafening bang, a bright blue wave of cackling light in the form of a halo ploughed towards the fleet in a large diameter. Nearing the edge of the blast zone, the pilots who began their rapid ascension prayed that they would be spared from the blast.

But it was too late, the diameter of the halo was large enough to encompass the fleet ten times over and the rapid ascension only added the extra distance when everyone began descending into the water. It was over, the entire fleet had been taken out in one single stroke.

As the electromagnetic pulse washed over the aircraft, the entire electronics shorted out and mildly shocked Jaune. With little control over their aircrafts, the tiny birds began descending rapidly together with their ships.

"Can anyone read me?!" Jaune spoke into the radio but to no avail.

Hearing his aircraft creak and groan, the eerie silence didn't help his situation as he wrestled for control over the aircraft without power controls. Feeling the weight of the plane shift, he was glad that he could at least make it out alive if he was careful.

 **-BOOM!-**

A giant fireball erupted a couple hundred metre away from him as the Raven aircraft plummeted onto the deck of the Atlantis. The Pilot was nowhere to be seen so it was safe to assume not everyone was lucky during the fallout.

"Shit!" Jaune muttered to himself.

Panning around, he felt at ease for awhile as majority of the flight group stuck to their training and flew idle without power. But the calm didn't last long as the sounds of multiple guns firing pierced the ever-silent air.

Falling with grace, the capital ships in the fleet were battered once more but this time without any shields to protect them or the ability to return fire.

"Mccallum, status?!" Captain Fletcher asked in an anxious state as his ship kept rapidly descending.

"Hang on, emergency reactors are coming on….now!" She triumphantly said before flipping the large lever.

With a defiant roar, the engines of the Tide Mother came to life once again and the ship began straightening herself out. The rest of the fleet began doing the same as their emergency engines came online.

"Damage report?" The Captain asked.

'Multiple hull and fire breaches on the bow, and upper decks. Shields are completely offline and the weapons are not responding. EMP has knocked out everything." Lieutenant Diaz reported

"Get up short range communications with our fleet, we need a new plan and fast." Captain Fletcher snapped.

"Sir, I'm detecting unstable readings from the backup reactors. The EMP has probably fried the regulators and its charging the reactors up!" Lieutenant Commander Mccallum reported with a hint of dread in her voice, "We're being forced to jump sir, I can't shut down the reactors in time." Her face filled with fear as the entire bridge fell silent.

"You have to be joking…" The Captain stared at her only for the chief engineer to give him a reassuring nod that she wasn't

"Sir, re-established communications with the fleet." An officer informed him.

"Incoming fire!" Another crew member pointed out the window as he began racing towards cover.

"Clear the bridge!" The Captain yelled before the projectile impacted the area.

Outside amongst the chaos, Jaune watched in horror as a direct round from the mother ship impacted the bridge of the Leviathan and tore right through structure before exploding.

"Noooo!" Jaune punched his carapace in a fit of anger as he felt completely helpless.

With a mechanical whirr coursing throughout his aircraft, the emergency systems kicked in and the basic functions were restored. Not a moment too soon, his fingers flipped the ignitions switch and his engines came to life once more.

Gaining full control over his craft, he pushed the throttle and banked hard to avoid the incoming fire. Opening his comm channels at the same time, majority of the fleet were on their last legs as they barked orders through the emergency channels.

"All units, retreat I say again all units retreat!" The Admiral barked over the radio.

"This is the Lieutenant Diaz reporting from the _-cough-_ Leviathan," The officer struggled to get his message across, "Bad news Admiral, the Tide Mother is being forced out of the fight. Our reactors are charging up for an uncoordinated jump and there's no stopping it. I'm sorry Admiral."

With that, it was the last report coming from the Leviathan as her jump drives emitted a piercing wail as a bright blue portal opened in front of her. Within the next second the ship was yanked through with a loud unintelligible noise and was gone from the fight.

"Shit!" Velvet cursed over the channel.

"All aircraft pull out of the AO. That is an immediate order! Relay to all units to fall back to Point Bravo, I say again, fall back to Point Bravo!" The Admiral strictly said.

"But Admiral, we can't simply leave you!" Jaune protested.

"Go Arc! The fleet is not going to make it out of her alive I can tell you that. We're abandoning ship lest if we all wish to fight another day, now go ARC!"

Knowing how stubborn he himself was, Jaune wasn't simply going to leave behind the fleet. But orders were orders, and if he wished to fight another day, he had to go otherwise the entire Atlesian fleet would tear them up.

"All call signs you heard the man, form up and prepare to jump to Point Bravo. We may have lost the fight, but we haven't lost the war yet. No while we're still breathing." He rallied the remaining pilots.

Saving his message as a recording, he detached a small transponder beacon and launched into the fringes of low orbit to transmit the repeated message on an encrypted channel to all available fighting forces until the beacon was destroyed.

As the group formed up into a tight formation, there was a total of twenty aircraft available, a shadow of what they once were when they first rallied up to fight the enemy fleet.

"All units green light to jump, I say again, go to jump!" He ordered while punching in the coordinates.

As a small portal of blue cackling light formed in front of him, his aircraft deployed its special jump drive rails to better coordinate the jump. Seeing the rest of the squadron leave the hostile airspace, he punched the obvious red button and was hurled across the great continent.

"Sir, Ravens have left the AO. What's our next course of action?" The officer asked him as the ship was continuously torn apart from the outside.

"Begin emergency evacuation procedures, I want every sailor and marine off this ship and at the rendezvous point. We are Vale's last hope so let's not disappoint." He nodded towards the man.

"Aye sir." He saluted sharply.

As he issued the abandon ship protocols, alarms began flashing wildly as crews left their stations and hastily made for the hangar bays. The Captain would be last to go and so was the Admiral. Outside, the remaining two ships, Gladiator and Trident, took a sever beating but kept pressing on as their drop ships evacuated the large vessels.

"Admiral, this is Captain Ferran. Most of my crew have been evacuated and are safely on their way. I can't say the same for myself though, there's no more ships left, and the hangar bay just collapsed. Navigation is gone and majority of the bridge isn't responding," There was a light pause in here transmission, as if she was hesitant to say the next part, "I'm stuck on a collision course and there's no stopping. I'm going to ram the enemy sir."

"You will do no such thing Captain! Get out of there now!"

"With all due respect sir, I can't leave. The hallways and decks are ablaze, and I would die the moment I leave the bridge. It seems fate is cruel to us all, so I ask you Admiral, please let me do this."

"Maureen…" The Admiral clenched his fist tightly, a pained sound escaped his mouth.

"It was an honour sir," She proudly said, "Fair winds Admiral, give those Atlesian bastards hell." She remarked before closing the line.

"Ferran!" He called out before rushing towards the window.

All the man could do was watch as the engines of the ship burned brightly as it barrelled forward towards the enemy. Taking the brunt of the enemy fire, the hull of the Trident was torn apart faster than you could imagine but she held strong to the end.

"This is the Gladiator, we're going down! All systems critical, we have no control over the ship! I say again we are going-ARGHH!" The sounds of agonising screams haunted the channels as it was the final words of the crew aboard the proud vessel.

With a deafening explosion and a horrific scene to witness, the Gladiator exploded from within as her reactors overloaded. Releasing a powerful shock wave, powerful force rocked the Atlantis and the crew aboard. The ship buckled and groaned as it was torn apart from the inside out, crying out in pain in its final moments as flames enveloped every last bit of it.

"FUCK!" Glauca punched the metal railing in anger at the loss of another ship.

With that, the man could only turn to watch as the Trident's burning hulk ploughed through the defensive screen of smaller Atlesian warships like a mad bull. After taking such a severe beating the tough gal still held on to the very end.

The bravery of Captain Ferran paid off as the Trident plunged herself deep into the bowels of the mother ship like a knife running deep into its target. In it's final moments the ships reactors went critical and let out a devastating explosion and visibly rocked the mother ship all around.

The damage was severe as it tore a large hole into the midsection of the capital ship but it wasn't enough to bring it down. It seems even a suicide attack wasn't enough to bring down the pride and joy of the Atlesian navy.

"Sir, emergency evacuations are done, we're ready to go sir." The officer informed him as he stared out the bridge nervously as the ship rocked and buckled under the constant hail of fire.

"Admiral we need to leave now! The ship is tearing itself apart and there's nothing more we can do." Another officer butted in.

Turning around to face them, the man wore a solemn look as he silently nodded at them to proceed. Being escorted out of the room, he gave one final glance at the bridge of his flagship before the doors were closed for good.

Leaving on the last drop ship, the bulky aircraft made it out just in time as the hangar bay was engulfed in a fiery explosion since no one contained the rampant blaze spreading throughout the ship like a plague.

Staring at his once proud warship, the Atlantis was nothing but a burning hulk now. Her guns, forever silenced and her engines reserved. Everything began to fall into place, and it was only inevitable until the reactors themselves went critical from the extensive damages.

With a bellowing ear-piercing explosion, the ship buckled and shrieked as it exploded from the inside out. The explosion let out a blinding flash of light that the man had to cover his eyes initially. Presented with a mangled ship, the proud vessel now sat in two as it began aimlessly descending into the jaws of the abyss.

A small tear escaped his left eye as it was truly a painful scene to witness. To consider the place you once called home, where more lasting memories were made and cumulative bonds were formed. The place where everything originally happened, now nothing but a wreck to soon lie at the bottom of the ocean.

"We're sorry Admiral, there wasn't much we could do." The officer said in a heavy tone.

He turned around to face the crew aboard, "Do not blame yourselves people, I blame myself for issuing such a reckless command. We have no fleet left and we're turning tail like a bunch of cowards, the people of Vale see us as their defenders, what good are we to them now?"

The officer simply offered a warm smile, "We'll figure something out Admiral, I'm sure of it. Besides, we may have lost the fight, but not the war. So long as we're still here, we'll keep fighting the enemy, right sir?"

"I like your optimism Lieutenant, keep at it," He nodded at the man, "Let us regroup first, I need to know how many we have lost and how many are left." He grimaced.

* * *

 **If you enjoyed this chapter do leave a review behind containing your thoughts. I will say that there will be errors and I will fix them right away once I go through this again so expect minor fixes here and there. See y'all soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: Hopes and Dreams

VNA Gladiator

Other aliases: Spartan

Length: 2,015 metres

Crew: 7,162

" _The Gladiator was manufactured by Zarek shipyards as their answer to Vale's mobile fortress platform. Mounting sheer offensive weaponry on all flanks, the Gladiator served initially as the Navy's frontline warship in spearheading major assaults. Commandeered by Captain Regis Caelum, the Gladiator saw action for a solid 8 years. Her most valiant act was recorded during the battle over the Lucius straights when the lone fortress stood against twenty Atlesian airships. Needless to say, the heroic acts of her Captain and crew prevented the strategic Lucius straights from falling into enemy hands. A feared warship amongst the Atlesian Navy."_

Gladiator's motto is 'Ready for all, Yielding for nothing.'

* * *

"Fucking hell." Velvet grumbled as she threw her helmet aside.

Allowing her hair to flow freely, she couldn't give a rat's arse if someone told her off for breaking protocol. If anything, the moment someone came up to tell her off she'd twist their necks in a heartbeat. But the reason for her unusual and dangerous anger was because of the battle she had returned from not hours ago.

The fall of the Capital city hit everyone hard and the entire country was in chaos. To make matters worse, the navy had no ships left and a counter offensive was near to impossible if Vale wished to strike back at her enemies. But the Faunus girl knew one thing, it was inevitable and she knew everyone around her felt the same.

It was why for the past two decades or so, the entire country had been preparing for an event like this. But the actual outcome was far worse than predicted and now it was just a shitshow. This was only the beginning, but Atlas would've been severely mistaken if they thought bringing down the Capital would make them surrender.

"Hey, Velvet?" A familiar voice filled her ears. She turned to greet the speaker.

"Grrr." She growled lowly as she wore a displeased look.

"You okay Velv?" The guy asked in a caring tone.

Her anger seemed to somewhat subside, and a cheerier look formed on her face. At least that one question cheered her up, "Yeah, just lost that's all." She smiled but it wasn't genuine

"Don't worry, you and me both. Hell, I bet everyone here feels the same way," He sat down on the crate while gesturing to her to join him.

"I can't believe it actually happened. Those sick bastards murdered innocent civilians like they were nothing. You have a family right Jaune? Aren't you worried sick?" She asked him.

Handing her a canned drink, she nodded a silent 'thank you' and opened it. Gathering his words, he knew it the situation wasn't easy on him, "I am worried sick Velv, I really am. I've got a sister living in Argus and I dread about what's happening there. The rest of my family is living far from the Capital, in a small town called Eos, near the factory city Duscae. To think they'd be near such a prime target for bombardment and invasion. But I have faith Velv, I know that my family will do what it takes to survive, they're fighters all of 'em. I can only hope for the best." Jaune sighed deeply while leaning his head on the larger crate behind him.

"I guess you're right. I can only do the same for my friends and family back home. Hope they do the right thing and pull through." Her ears slumped down in a tired manner.

"Most of the folk around here feel the same way, but we have a duty. All of us, our friends and families, the innocents, they are looking up to us. We swore to protect them, and that's what we're going to do." He encouraged her lightly before scratching the back of her ears which prompted Velvet to tilt her head towards him while thumping her foot on the ground.

"I hate it when you do it to me in public." She hissed at him.

"Hey, you never told me to stop before." He gave her a shit eating grin.

"Lieutenants!" A sharp voice beckoned them.

"Yes sir!" Jaune answered the voice as the duo stood up sharply.

"Glad to see you two in one piece, I would've hated to lose my most elite warriors in these dire times." The Admiral grimaced.

"Don't worry sir, it'll take a lot more to bring us down." Jaune grinned while nudging his partner.

"Follow me, I'm going to need your presence in the command room." He gestured to them before walking off.

Trailing behind the man, the area around them was packed with grounded aircraft as ground crews ran around working on the aircrafts hastily in order to make them sky worthy again. Leaving the gigantic hangar bay, the trio rode an elevator up onto the second levels and were exposed to the lush scenery that surrounded Fort Tarsis. A blend of man and nature, the steel fortress was enveloped by the growing forest that offered a natural barrier to warding prey that wished to attack.

To the south of the fort lay the Cocytus Gulf that expanded as far as the eye could see. It was where the dedicated port that would resupply and repair friendly airships would dock, if they were still around that is.

Velvet and Jaune were still captivated the second time around as they peered out the windows the building. As they walked through the hall, the blonde quietly pointed out the giant mountains and valley below that served as the natural barrier for Tarsis. Truly this was the goldmine of strategic locations.

"How long has the fort been here? This is the first time I've actually gotten a proper look at the place." Velvet asked in awe as she still glanced around.

"The foundations of this base was laid down twenty years ago and was completed within ten years. By then this bastion was a fully functioning base that rivalled that of the Capital city. But Joint Command deemed it unnecessary to divert major resources into this area and thus was only used as a refuel station for our ships. Well now, now it's going to be our new home." The Admiral shrugged his shoulders.

"I noticed the ASG turrets looked different here, their smaller than the ones in the Capital city and it seems we have a lot jotting the area." Jaune pointed out.

Glauca let out a small chuckle, "That's because I authorized the construction of our next gen anti-ship cannons and moved them here. These bad boys are the same type of guns being carried around by our battle stations. Remember Fenrir? Think these as its older brother."

Climbing into another elevator, the group went up another level and appeared onto the highest level of the base. Serving as the hub for all operations, the command room spanned a wide area as it now directed all orders amidst the chaos.

"Admiral on deck!" An officer barked sharply which prompted the others inside to snap to attention.

"At ease." The man ushered just as the doors closed behind him, "General Dorn, status report?"

"We've managed to establish comms with our factory cities. Of the four, only Altis and Nexus have responded to our hails. For Duscae and Podronos still no word, my men are still hailing them repeatedly until a response can be received." The man replied sternly.

"I want every major city on high alert and to restrict access to their respective ASG turrets to military personnel. All personnel have the permission to execute anybody found tampering with the equipment. We can't afford any more risks."

"Understood sir," The man nodded, "Lieutenant, relay the Admiral's word to the two cities at once."

"Yes sir!"

"Gather around men, this meeting is now in full affect. We need to come up with a plan and fast." The Admiral glanced around the room at the sea of serious faces. Interacting with his holopad, he brought up an image of the Atlesian mothership and displayed it on the giant rectangular table, "This thorn in our side is the Edelweiss. The Flagship of the Atlesian navy and home to their Admiral whoever he/she is. Couldn't give a damn really."

"Are we planning to take it down?" Jaune placed his hands on the table as he leaned in to study the ship.

"No, not for now. While I hope to the stars that this ship crashes and burns majestically, I'm not seeing it happen anytime soon. Reason why I brought this ship up is because of the breathing space we've been given thanks to the valiant actions of Captain Ferran." The Admiral paused slightly, his voice still heavy from saying that name, "The detonation of the Trident took out a large portion of the ship and showed visible damage to what is speculated to be vital sections of the Edelweiss. Knowing how prideful the snowy bastards are, my assumption is we won't be seeing this ship for awhile until she is fully repaired. Give or take a few weeks, months if they're feeling generous."

"With all due respect sir, that gives us enough time to bring up a plan to cripple the fleet internally. That ship will pose a major threat to us all until we get rid of it." Commodore Russ chipped in.

"Initiating such a reckless assault would cost us more men, I say we divert our resources into keeping the enemy at bay. Hit and run tactics." Major General Walton suggested.

"Let's keep this civil gentlemen. Both proposals are sound but the execution is another thing. Let us focus on securing the home front first, we need to drive our enemies out of our lands if we hope to even begin operations striking deep into enemy territory." Admiral Glauca told them.

"General Dorn said that the factory cities Duscae and Podronos haven't responded. Those two cities lie north of the Capital city and essentially cut off from us. If we can't secure those cities our production numbers fall by half and we'd be ill equipped in resupplying our men for the greater conflicts to come." Jaune pointed at the holographic map of Vale.

"I agree with the Lieutenant, securing the major cities needs to be our primary goal if we wish to beat Atlas in the long run. And it'll be a boost to morale four our men, knowing that we haven't lost our lands to the enemy yet." The General acknowledged him.

"Afternoon sirs, permission to report?" The tall light brown-haired officer reported sternly.

"Report Lieutenant." General Dorn gestured towards him.

"It's Cerberus sir, Fenrir's twin. No contact has come through, its last reported position was in the city of Duscae. I assume the worst and that the enemy may have initiated an assault, if so I cannot stress how dangerous it would be if the battle station falls into the wrong hands."

The General let out along frustrated sigh, "Damn it, all the more reason we need to know what the hell is going on in the northern region. Your call Admiral?" He looked to the man for the answers.

The authoritative figure cleared his throat, "I think majority of us can agree that securing lost lands is our number one priority before anything else. With the mother ship out of the picture, the Atlesians will be restricted to ground warfare in the event our turrets keep them at bay. But anything can happen, those bastards are willing to throw their men away like fodder they are."

"I have a full brigade ready to move complete with armoured support. Just say the word Admiral and we'll make haste." General Dorn told him.

"How is our air fleet looking Commodore Russ?" Glauca turned to his subordinate.

"We have a total of 200 aircraft ready to deploy sir. The remaining 60 that came back from the Capital City assault are undergoing repairs as we speak."

"I need reports on how many active personnel we have at the ready. What's the numbers at this base and all together including the factory cities that we have contact with?"

"So far we're just shy of 30,000 personnel ready at this base. Our total numbers are estimated around the low 70,000"

"Damn it!" He cursed under his breath. The blow was severe enough and with that many people it wasn't enough to stage even an assault on Atlesian shores. If anything, those numbers would be enough to lock down the entire country, "There were 20,000 combined troops stationed in the Capital City. If I'm right, our boys are probably still putting up a hell of a fight. Once we make sure our factory cities are safe, we re-take our Capital."

"And kick those Atlesian gobshites where it hurts aye?" Commodore Russ grinned.

"Exactly."

"How many planes do you need General?" The Commodore eagerly inquired.

"I won't ask too much, perhaps two squadrons will suffice. I shall enlist the assistant of Fenrir to minimalize the burden. I am aware that our pilots are needed elsewhere as the Admiral has bigger plans?" The General eyed the tested figure.

"I appreciate your concerns General, I will have to dedicate strike craft in defending our cities. While a factory city will contain only five squadrons at maximum, I believe that isn't enough."

"The reason why they only house five squadrons sir, is because the airfield can only sustain that amount. But since this is war, those cities are going to need all the help they can get."

"What about civilians from the Capital? There will be large influx in refugees heading towards any well known civilisation away from the city. What are we going to do with them?" Velvet voiced her concern to the table.

"Good point Scarlatina," Glauca acknowledged her, "General Dorn, can you dedicate a small force to set up crisis response centres outside the city? I'll have drop ships ready at your disposal ready to transport whatever you need."

"I'll organize it right away sir," He replied quickly, "Major Gearing, initiate Crisis response protocols. Tell them they have full responsibility over the civilians fleeing the Capital. Prepare to depart in thirty!" His voice travelled sharply across the room and into the ears of the nearby officer.

"Sir!" He briskly saluted before leaving the room.

"Now that organizations are underway shall we move on to the more classified things?" Admiral Glauca poked around the room, eying the heads looking at him, "If I may begin, I think it's time the Javelin Initiative be brought online. While this may be a fight between regular soldiers and grunts, we cannot neglect the SRED department. The elites of the Atlesian initiative."

The name rang a cold tone and sent just about cold shiver up everyone's spine in the room. The SRED division was notorious for their ruthless and cruel tactics, executing missions with swift precision and stirring up a shit show all around.

"We created the SCARs to counter the SRED forces, but it seems our option are rather limited now. Over the past five years we have been running more and more into SRED Special Operatives rather than their special grunts. Alarming as it is, We are ill prepared to deal with a fully fledged Huntsman or Huntress. Especially those who hail from SRED."

"Why not hire outside help? Or has it been tried before and ended horribly?" Lieutenant Bronzewing asked.

The others around the room merely gave him a hard glance which answered his question thoroughly. Suffice to say, being gunned down by the Admiral was enough of an answer that.

"Returning to the topic, the Javelin Initiative was put in place to handle these Special Operatives. A means for our elites to become even greater. With this, I plan to organize missions that involve going behind enemy lines and causing mass confusion and crippling them at the same time," He paused to look around the room, gaining the assurance that everyone agreed with where he was going, "Let's face it, we are ill equipped to take the enemy on. Full scale battles will always result in us losing, and that is something I wish to avoid. No more lives, we have lost too much."

"With all due respect Admiral, the Biotech project has only recently gotten off its feet, but we still don't have solid evidence that it'll benefit us. Now the talk of putting our soldiers inside suits of armour? We already have aura for that sir." General Dorn protested.

"Except countless battles and our recent fight in the Capital shows how useless aura is against Atlesian weaponry. May I remind you the average Atlesian soldier holds a rifle capable of melting through a slab of composite armour? And the fact it travels faster than a bullet and the Kinetic energy alone is enough to knock out a full grown human before burning through the aura like it was nothing," Glauca eyed the man carefully, "Only reason why are weapons managed to keep up is because we've started firing heavier rounds but how long will that last?"

"But the General has a point sir, do we have enough resources dedicated to launching the Javelin Initiative?" Commodore Russ stepped in.

Glauca pushed his hands off the table and folded his arms, "Of course, in fact the first batch of exosuits are ready to be distributed to the SCAR teams with us. Which means my two most trusted Lieutenants in this room will take the mantle of the Javelin Initiative." He stared proudly at the duo.

"Uh…what?..." Jaune asked in a dumbfounded manner as he looked around the room.

"Petty Officer Nakamoto, escort these two to the Special Operations grounds. Introduce them to their new toys."

"Right away sir!" The woman responded swiftly, "Lieutenants." She gestured towards the elevator.

As the were hastily escorted out of the room, the woman swiped her card and keyed in a password. Feeling the machine jerk under them, it began to take them towards their new destination. Taking this chance, Jaune gave Velvet a confused look.

"Did you know anything about this?" He asked her.

"Absolutely not. Sometimes I wonder if Glauca intentionally keeps these things hidden just so he can dump it on us later." The Faunus girl rolled her eyes.

Nakamoto let out a small chuckle just as the doors opened, "The Admiral was keen on keeping this project a secret and so only a select few knew about it. But if you ask me, he really wanted to drop the responsibility on you two."

"Wow." Jaune commented as he followed her out the door.

"This way please." She tapped her id card against the scanner and the door opened.

Walking inside, the trio were met with a serious of wires running along the floor and a myriad of scaffolding lying about as workmen sat atop the leverages working on bipedal suits chained to their respective areas. It was an engineer's dream to be within such an enclosed space.

"Whoa…." Velvet wore a surprised look as she eyed the mechanical suits.

"What you're looking at is the Javelin Initiative. We hope to finish rolling out the special forces batch as soon as possible. Maybe within the next few days. By then all the SCAR teams will be kitted out for almost any kind of mission." Nakamoto informed them as she led them around the area.

"And we get to wear these things?" Jaune asked curiously while watching a man run some diagnostics on a sleeker exosuit.

"Absolutely, it was made for the SCARS after all. Since SRED is now deploying their Special Operative Huntsman, we figured we'd do the same. Our intentions were never to weaponize huntsman, but it seems Atlas doesn't give a damn."

"Hunstman were trained to protect lives, not take them. The fact that Atlas Academy brainwashes its students into joining the military sickens me. Sooner or later we'll be meeting young eager graduates on the field, and won't that be fun to deal with." She shot Jaune a wry glance.

"Let's just hope we never run into those types." Jaune shuddered at the thought.

"Nakamoto, I see you brought our first tryouts?" A man in a black apron and welding mask greeted them with a cheery attitude.

"Oh boy, this is going to be fun." Jaune commented loud enough for them to hear.

"Lieutenant Ramirez, Chief engineer and co-designer of the Javelin Initiative. Pleasure to meet you Lieutenant?..."

"Arc."

"Scarlatina."

"Ah, I recognize those names from anywhere. Although I've never seen you two in person. You two are the top SCAR elites am I right? Both pilots and ground force specialists?"

"That's who we are alright." Jaune offered a small smile.

"The Admiral told me a lot about you two. Worked on both your suits personally, come this way." He ushered them along like a giddy child, "Since there was a Faunus amongst us, it was only right of me to adjust the helmet design of one of the suits. I think you'll like them very much he stopped to point.

Resting their eyes in the direction where Ramirez pointed in, the duo were presented with a visually stunning pair of exosuits that seemed to be crafted personally for their taste. Covered in smooth ebony texture, it both spurred fear and awe into the eyes of the beholder. Although who wouldn't want to cut down their enemies in style?

"Well bust my carrots this is one helluva piece." Velvet commented as she studied the suit.

"That over there Miss Scarlatina is the Interceptor suit. A Javelin focused heavily on melee, stealth and all around causing mass confusion on the battlefield. I think you'll find it to your liking."

Jaune eyed his comrade suspiciously, "Stealth huh? You never told me you were the quiet type."

Velvet played it off like she had nothing to hide, "What? Can't choose my preferences?" She raised a brow.

"Not complaining, just didn't think you were the silent type," he raised his hands defensively, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Oh, you'll see hot shot." She smirked.

"The suit in front of you is the Ranger class Mister Arc. Our general all around purpose suit, versatile for almost any situation and able to adapt to the ever changing battlefield. Something the Admiral personally told me you'd enjoy." Ramirez smiled heartily.

" _By Oum Glauca."_ Jaune muttered to himself, "So how does this work?"

"I was hoping you'd say that!" Ramirez said excitedly while rushing behind the suit. Interacting with his holopad on his arm, the suits let out a mechanical hiss before the entire rear section opened up to reveal an entry point, "Nakamoto, assist Scarlatina please." He requested in the politest manner.

"Ma'am." Nakamoto lead her to the rear to gear her up.

"A couple of pointers I wish to mention, before you gain full authority of the suit I recommend syncing it to your holopad unless you wish to get locked inside for the next four gruesome hours while we pry you out."

"Duly noted." Jaune nodded.

"Due to your Faunus traits Ma'am the interceptor helm has been modified to accept your ears. Although for safety measures you'll have to bend them back, but don't worry, the helmet won't harm you or clip them off." Nakamoto informed her as she pointed out the modified parts of the helm.

"Now then, just climb in and we'll begin adjusting you to you're new environment." Ramirez assured him.

"Great, what could go wrong? Just what could absolutely go wrong?" Jaune spoke out loud as he climbed the carapace of the suit.

* * *

 _-Zegnautus Keep-_

The air was deeply tense and the atmosphere stood the same. The exalted feeling that an explosion or sudden outburst could occur any minute ran through Commander Admiral Sayars Roth as he stood before the highest power, the Admiral of the Atlesian navy.

The woman pursed her lips together to complete her disappointed look. Hands clasped together as she eyed him carefully, "Tell me Commander," She began slowly, her tone resonating with calm approach, "What on Remnant's two feet happened?" Her question was simple yet drove the man over the cliff as if he was on death's door.

Sweat ran down the side of his head, his throat dry as his vocal chords struggled to work. His eyes darted sporadically around the room in order to avoid the Admiral's eternal gaze, "The Vale Navy launched a suicidal assault on the fleet and-" He managed to croak out loud, terrible choice to start a report.

The woman exhaled deeply, her grip tightened visibly as the atmosphere began to change drastically, "Cease," She cut him off, "Let me re-phrase that question. How is it possible that you managed to fail so badly that words cannot even begin to grasp at the complexity of your actions?"

Sayars knew he fucked up now, there was no escaping it. The longer he stayed with Admiral the faster his grave would present itself. And boy was his coffin within visible distance as it approached him like an out of control race car.

"I am deeply sorry for this failure Admiral, we did not expect the enemy to launch such a suicidal attack. We were all taken by surprise." He kept his head low, keen to avoid the infamous deathly gaze.

"Sayars, I couldn't give a rat's arse about what the enemy did. My only concern lies with how I trusted you in fulfilling my orders, leant you my personal flagship, the finest ships and Captains of the Atlesian Navy and yet you still managed to fail me and the Kingdom!" Her sudden outburst quelled all noises in the room, including the ambient ones which somehow never existed before.

"Admiral I request you give me a second chance, I will make things right I will go back and slaughter the animals and bring pride-ACK!" The once proud officer was cut off as he was grabbed swiftly by the neck and held in the air by the strong woman.

Despite her small frame and being several inches shorter than Sayars, the Admiral didn't let that stop her in lifting the 5'11 man off the floor with ease and watched him gasp and beg for air at her mercy.

"Do not mention pride ever again!" She hissed at him while glaring daggers, her grip tightened around his neck as she continued to lecture him, "You were given a chance Sayars, and you failed. Not only that, I explicitly told you to not harm civilians in the operation. But even you seem unable to follow such a simple order. Do you know what sort of war crime you have committed? You will go down in history as the blundering idiot that failed miserable at following even the simplest command. Tell me Commander, who was it that issued the order? Who asked you defy me?!"

As his arms thrashed around wildly, his eyes begged her to let go while his mouth hung wide open is a desperate attempt to suck in whatever pockets of air it could to keep him alive. With a loud _-thud-_ her grip loosened and drop the man to the cold marble floor.

Gasping for breath, he coughed erratically while regaining his composure. Sayars knew very well he was in the endgame now. Whatever his fate was, he was unsure of how it would approach him, the only thing he was certain about was the mountain of pain about to drop on him.

"You still haven't answered my question Commander. WHO issued the order to slaughter civilians?!" Her tone was sharp and struck fear into the now already shattered man. She paced slowly around, watching in disgust at the waste of oxygen before her feet.

"Emperor Aldercapt. He personally visited me and forced me to give the order," He croaked out loud amidst his slow heavy panting. Looking up her, he continued speaking, "I couldn't disobey a direct order from our great leader."

 _-SLASH!-_

"ARGHHHH! AHHHHH! AHHHH! ARGHHHH!" Sayars screamed out in pure pain as his hands clutched the positions of where his eyes once rested.

With a swift single stroke, the rapier of the Admiral took away one of the most precious things available to man. Blood stained the tip of the blade while more splattered itself across the marble floor.

Even the guards who stood witness to the event flinched at the gruesome sight, making notes of never getting on the bad side of the Admiral.

As the shameful remains of Sayars Roth lay on the floor, the man continued to yell out in pain while spouting a slur of curse words towards the woman. Damn everything else, he was going to die, at least he would go down as the man who cursed at the Admiral of the Atlesian Navy.

"I thought you were better than that Sayars. I personally vouched for you when you climbed the ranks. But seeing you return in such a pathetic state tells me you are no longer worthy to be a part of Atlas. The shame you will bear with you Commander, I hope the after life treats you well. Any last words?" She asked him as she drew her sidearm.

Hearing the familiar cocking sound of the gun, Sayars knew it was over. His career, his life and his dream. All gone, all because he was devoted to such a blind cause. If fate wanted to shit so badly on him, it had already done so. But his life did not matter, all he cared about was his wife Aya and his son Dimitri.

"Please, leave my family out of this. Let me suffer, just leave them alone." He spoke out loud in a random direction.

She cocked her head to one side, unexpected of such a bizarre request. But something she would keep nonetheless, "How sweet of you. It was nice knowing you Sayars, unfortunately you were more of a liability then an asset."

 **-BANG!-**

 **-BANG!-**

As the room echoed of gunshots, the stench of gunpowder lingered in the air while smoke gently oozed out of the stainless-steel barrel. Creating an even bigger mess, the body of Sayars Roth now lay lifelessly in his own pool of blood.

The Admiral let out a small _-tch-_ as she realized her marble floors would be stained with the blood of such a low life. But nonetheless, the deed had been done and the liability of an officer was gone. With her most trusted second in command out of her way, a new position for a second had opened.

"You blindly followed your Emperor Sayars. Stubborn and devoted, you were a good officer until you began worshipping that man." She felt disgusted just by thinking of the Aldercapt's name or face.

Moving back to her desk, she set down her pistol and silently gestured towards her personal guards to clean up the mess. Not another word was uttered as the two men respectfully handled the body out of the room.

To her surprise however, a familiar face came through her doors with a concerned look.

"Schnee." The man began sternly.

"General Ironwood, what brings you here at this hour?" She asked him with a small smile, mood and tone shifting incredibly quickly.

As the body of Sayars Roth caught his eye, he watched in shock as the guards hauled his body out the door and out of sight. To think she would turn on her closest ally in an instant. Something wasn't right, not by a longshot.

"What happened here?" He asked her cautiously while the doors closed behind them.

"Why some necessary disciplinary action. A necessary evil performed might I say." She answered him half heartedly while sitting down in her seat. Gesturing him to take a seat, the man complied while she fetched a bottle of whiskey and two cups from her drawer.

"I heard what happened, the whole operation. The entire thing was a mess from start to finish, just what the hell was the Emperor thinking?!" James buried his head into his hands while she slid him a drink.

Her white hair swung gracefully as she gently shook her head from side to side, "Necessary sacrifices were made James. Something I am willing to do for our nation to move forward." She said while glancing at him.

"Do you call the countless mass murdered civilians a necessary sacrifice? The botched operation where unnecessary air ships were lost, and a good portion of our forces wiped?" He took a small swig from the glass, eying the young slender woman with a cautious eye.

She turned around in her chair and gazed outside the window, "While I do not condone the actions of murdering countless innocents, it was an unforeseen event that neither of us predicted. As for the men who died in battle, they gave their lives for our greater cause. But that's in the past, we need to move on." Her voice cold and relentless as ever.

"They were good men dammit!" Ironwood slammed his hands on the table, his face teething in anger as the words from her mouth hit a visible nerve.

A small, but subtle, smile formed on her face as she turned around and leaned in closer towards him, "You care too much James, you may not realize it now, but allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement will lead to your demise."

"They were human beings just like you!" He moved his glass to one side while staring her down, "Or have you changed so much that you've forgotten what it's like to be a human."

The statement hit home hard and the stunned look the heiress wore further reinforced it. While true in most aspects, she never really bothered to reflect her actions. Perhaps being blinded by her work changed her so much no?

"This useless banter is getting us nowhere. Tell me why you're here or else I'll force you out of my office because I have more important matters to handle rather than waste my time with you." She gritted her teeth in anger.

James slowly bat down in his chair before pinching the bridge of his nose, "The decimation of Vale's Navy successful or not is being used as major propaganda in the streets. Talks of Invading Mistral is next, and I have no reason but to comply with the order if the Emperor allows it."

"While simultaneously running a ground invasion against Vale? Has Joint Command forgotten than Vale has the necessary production capabilities to produce warships and more arms to fight back? We demolished their Capital city and the Emperor expects us to invade another country?! The people of Vale are going to bite back harder than ever before and sooner or later they'll be knocking on our doorstep." She made herself abruptly clear on the matter, frightened almost at the fact of Vale's unchecked capabilities.

"That is why I am urging the other members to convince him otherwise. Not to mention this SRED division of yours is also getting more attention with the introduction of new experiments to bolster our war efforts. The Emperor is head over heels for a super soldier program, hell I personally saw him studying a hypothesis on genetically cloned troops." Ironwood pointed towards her as he took another sip from his glass.

"This is fucking ridiculous! I swore an oath to serve and protect this country, I will not stand idle as some brain-dead fool runs our entire nation into the ground because of his lack of poor judgement." She let out a deep sigh, unsure of what to do next in first time since forever, "I'm not even sure if this Aldercapt is even up to the task of leading us to the promised dream we all swore to."

The man stood up from his seat and moved over to the small woman. Resting a hand on her shoulder, the two of them stared outside into the bustling city that was Atlas. Colourful streamers flew wildly in the air as ships and planes paraded the skies. Civilians danced about the streets together with the soldiers in celebration of their victory.

For the two of them, the sight was nothing but a bad scene. It just reminded them of how equally bad the populous was. The blind truth everyone was being fed, no one knew of the horrors that happened.

"You and me both feel the same, but we are also partly to blame for this mess. While we all agreed on the idea of a united humanity it wasn't supposed to be forged this way. Believe me, I don't like where the Emperor is directing the war efforts. But we must obey for now, or else we get branded as heretics and traitors. Then our dream of uniting humanity under one agreeable banner would've been for nothing." He told her. Finishing his drink, he set it down on the table and simply eyed the young woman.

"This isn't going to be easy James. I feel like this entire thing is going to come bite us back in the arse. To be honest, I wouldn't mind being bitten back. Allows me to see a different perspective." She said so casually that if anyone else were to catch whim of it she would've bene branded a traitor.

"You're lucky the Emperor didn't catch you saying that."

"What's he going to do? Court Martial me? If he does, he knows he's going to lose a considerable number of supporters in his war machine. I am after all the role model everyone looks up to. The poster girl if you would like to put it. Their prime example of a fine leader."

"Fair point, but still."

"Admiral Schnee and General Ironwood to the Emperor's chambers. Emperor Aldercapt wishes to speak with you." A sharp voice spoke over the public intercom.

"Well would you look at that." Ironwood glanced at the speaker before back towards the Schnee.

"Come on, let's not keep our 'great' leader waiting." She said with a hint of disgust while rolling her eyes.

Holstering Myrtenaster and her sidearm on her attire, the duo adjusted their uniforms properly before leaving the room hastily. Things sure got interesting in the past ten hours or so.

…

"My loyal subjects, I am overwhelmed to see you again. I must say congratulations Admiral Schnee!" The haughty old figure cheerfully celebrated with his golden goblet in the air, "But moving on however, I must ask of our current reports and strength. Personally, I want to hear it from you all." He lowered the cup to lend his full attention.

As the four most important figures stood around the room surrounded by a myriad of soldiers at the attention, the atmosphere felt awkward at best. Amongst them to step forward first was Chief Scientist and Engineer Professor Merlot.

"Your Grace, the science division is working at its best pace. Soon your answer to an endless army of machinations will come to life. We will find a more efficient alternative than General Ironwood's robots." The bearded man sneered at the built figure, a hidden attempt to jab at his pride.

"Good Professor, and what of you Admiral Schnee? I hear personally that while our assault was successful, our fleet took quite the beating. Is our Navy still prepared to defend our glorious skies from the heretics that wish to tear down and taint our sovereign soil?" He looked directly at the young woman who offered a cold expression.

Weiss exhaled deeply before speaking, "I assure you your Majesty the Atlesian Navy will answer to Atlas' cry for help and turn away those who threaten us. Make no mistake, the Navy will never yield to its enemies." Her arms remained crossed while speaking to him while maintaining her infamous cold calculating demeanour

"Excellent, excellent." He nodded with a sinister smile growing across his face. His fingers tapped the fine golden knobs around his chair at a steady rhythm, "And General Ironwood, is our armies still ready to deploy? I take it many of our men are eager to take the fight to our enemies and show who is just the superior power." A small uncontrolled chuckle slipped the old man's mouth.

Ironwood only gave a nervous glance towards Weiss before wearing a brave look on his face, "Your majesty, I can say with great confidence that our men are still standing strong. We may have suffered major casualties but that only drives our fighting spirit even further. They are ready to move at your word."

That was enough to get the Emperor to let out another unexpected laugh for evil as he simply eyed his seemingly 'loyal' subjects before him. If anything, all was going according to plan and soon the entire world would be at his fingertips. The dream of a united humanity under one banner, he would be praised as a hero by all. The greatest sacrifices that were made to reach that goal would be shouldered by him alone, and that was enough.

"By the stars, such wonderful news. I feel guilty of keeping you entrapped here. Go my subjects, command our armies and lead us to great victory. I eagerly await more good news"

With that, the four most influential people were quickly ushered out of the Emperor's chambers and left to their own devices. Together with the soldiers that were forced to attend, everyone else went their separate ways as they had a duty to resume.

"That was one hell of an anti-climactic meeting." Weiss snorted out of earshot as James joined her.

"You and me both," He smirked, "Listen, I'm on my way to a delegate party later, hopefully I can convince more supporters to vote for a democratic government in time for the next elections. We need to force the Emperor out of power legally."

"Look James," Weiss stopped in her tracks while letting out a tired groan, "I couldn't care less about your political games. I only care about serving Atlas and Atlas alone. While our current leader is somewhat incapable at making decisions, I still back his ideas of uniting humanity as one and I will go to great lengths to see it come to life."

James looked around warily to make sure they weren't being followed, "I hope you know what you're doing. This dream of yours you follow would either be your biggest achievement," He paused momentarily, "Or your greatest demise."

"Trust me James, I will see to it till the end. I just hope 'you' know what you're doing" She let out a tired sigh.

"If you'll excuse me Admiral Schnee." He sharply saluted before leaving her side.

"Ugh, time to do more dirty work." Weiss groaned.

* * *

"Sir, FTL portal detected on radar! It's opening up near the Cocytus Gulf and approximately within four hundred metres of the base!" The radar operator informed loudly over the noise in the room.

"What!?" Glauca wore a dumbfounded look as he checked the nearby monitor for the readings.

"That portal is opening up above the airship docking bay!" General Dorn said in a concerned tone as he interpreted the data.

"Get all stations ready to mobilize. I want all ASG turrets ready to point in that direction, if an enemy comes through that portal I want them blasted in oblivion!"

"Aye sir, sounding alarm now!" The officer complied.

The high pitched screeching of the attack siren blared non-stop throughout the base as everyone rushed into action stations in anticipation of another attack. Truly this day wasn't over and another battle was about to take place again.

"Object dropping in three seconds!" The operator announced.

"Get ready!" The Admiral said in heavy anticipation as he stared out the control room.

As if it was right on time, a bright blue vortex of pure energy cackled and formed out of the thin air. Forming a large hole, it only lasted a few seconds as the thing it was transporting made its grand entrance. But the 'thing' that made such a spectacular entry was the direct opposite of what everyone else was expecting.

"Dear god, she's alive..." General Dorn rested a hand on his forehead while gazing out the window.

"Get the emergency crews ready!" Admiral Glauca wasted no time in issuing the order.

* * *

 **Greeting everyone, back again with another chapter. Not a lot of action in this one but mostly just the aftermath of things and more events being set in motion. I would like to give credit where credit is due to the references I made in this story as most of the names used are mostly outright alluding to the actual thing. And since this is an AU universe, everyone we are familiar with so far are in the twenties and above.**

 **Hope you all have a wonderful New Year and cheers to the start of 2019!**


	4. Chapter 4: Gathering Storm

-Public Disclosure Information Article 2180-

Subject: Vox Militibus

" _Officially known as the Thunder Warriors in the Valen army, the name bears high recognition at the same time great fear, for any ears that picks up the canticle. The Thunder Warriors are the elite shock troopers of the Valen army who specialise in deep strike assaults, reconnaissance and infiltration behind enemy lines. Thunder Warriors are the second best, if not the only best, unit the Army can offer. It is noted that the Thunder Warriors share a friendly rivalry with the SCARs of the Valen Navy as both units tend to compete ferociously on the battlefield._

 _Thunder Warriors are usually found in battles that the regular army wouldn't be able to handle and is often trusted with important tasks such as spearheading assaults into heavily fortified positions or infiltrating behind enemy lines and plainly harassing the enemy when they least expect it. Most recruits who are inducted undergo hellish training and enhanced by rigid discipline which allows them to carry out any orders no matter how inhumane it may be."_

 **EQUIPMENT:**

 _Thunder Warriors are famous for their distinct hue blue Ionian Battle suits and helmets which bore the infamous red gaze which is said to be the last thing an enemy sees before being turned into paste. All Warriors are equipped with the standard Mk-9 Armageddon Energy Rifle which alone, has enough firepower to tear through almost any target on the battlefield thanks to it being one of the few energy weapons employed by the Army._

 _Moreover, all soldiers carry the standard issue Frag Grenades and Hellblaster Grenades as well as the option to carry EMP Grenades. Soldiers can also request to use special weapons such as the XM-50 Anti-Material rifle, GM-25 Heavy machine gun/gatling gun and other myriad of weapons to suit their needs._

* * *

"WAAAAGGGHHHH!" Jaune screamed indecisively as he began plummeting at a rapid rate.

Air rushing about around him as his Ranger Javelin lost its will to fly and began dropping like a dead fly. For Velvet, she merely hovered in the air as she watched her fellow team member descend into the lush terrain below.

"Listen to me Arc, you need to calm down and stop screaming." Ramirez spoke through the radio as he tried to fix the situation.

"Calm down?! I'm falling to my death dammit!" Jaune shot back.

"We'd appreciate if you toned down the volume sir, the speakers in the room are causing us to go deaf." Nakamoto said from behind Ramirez.

"Never mind that, Arc listen to me carefully. The neural link transmitter attached to you is what allows you to control the suit. What ever you think, the suit will follow, and now I need you to think about flying. FLY ARC!" Ramirez urged him as panic rose in his voice.

Continuing his rapid descent, Jaune straightened out his limbs and began a sharp dive towards the ground. Taking in Ramirez's advice, he began thinking about flying in his mind, almost as a natural thought to prevent his early doom.

Sure enough, the Javelin replied with a series of high-powered screams as the rocket thrusters roared to life. Watching his speed rise rapidly, he pulled himself out of the dive and steered away from the jaws of death that awaited below.

Still accelerating rapidly, his speed was well above 343m/s as he zipped around Tarsis airspace like a supersonic jet. Although with such immense flight speed, the cost of low flight time caught up to him as his boosters began to run out again.

"Now that you've exhausted your thrusters, I recommend landing on that aerial platform near you. Seems like a nice spot to land and no one is around there, should be smooth sailing." Ramirez instructed him.

/…/

On the platform below, Velvet watched with an amused look underneath her helmet as Jaune plummeted downwards with no intention of slowing his fall. Perhaps he'd try to play the cool kid and activate his boosters the last minute. Whatever happened next, if he screwed up the Faunus knew she'd be on the ground laughing.

" _He's going to do the superhero landing."_ Velvet predicted.

Landing with a loud heavy noise, the impact generated an echo that travelled as far as it could before dissipating. Seeing that Velvet landed ahead of him, she stood there in her sleek interceptor Javelin and eyed him.

Even though there was helmet covering her face, Jaune could still tell she was giving him a smug look underneath all that.

"And he did the superhero landing," She murmured to herself, "Well fly boy, got the hang of things yet?"

With a soft mechanical noise, the forward section of the Ranger helmet popped open to reveal a portion of Jaune's face, "Judging by the fact that I nearly died _TWICE_ today, I'd say I got a good hang of it," He paused to take gasp of air, "Since when we're you so good at flying mechanical suits?"

"A girl's bound to have a few secrets up her sleeves hot shot," She smirked.

"Well, I am all ears since-"

- **CRACK!** -

An earth-shattering noise rocked the region to its core as something that can only be described as the heaven's being split apart over the next few seconds. Stunned by the noise, the entirety of Fort Tarsis grinded to a halt as defences spurred into action.

Turning their attention towards the source of the noise, Jaune and Velvet could only gape in awe as the Leviathan exited from inertial space. The bellowing noise emitted by such an exit was the result of an object moving greater than the speed of light only to grind to a halt mere moment after.

The practice of a ship exiting inertial space within close proximity of a city would be catastrophic as the force generated would rival that of a miniature atomic bomb. Even is a ship were to drop in kilometres away, the sound generated alone was enough to wake everything up.

"Holy shit!..." Jaune muttered as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"The Tide Mother, she's..she's still alive!" Velvet exclaimed.

"We can't celebrate just yet, we need to return to base ASAP and figure out the situation." Jaune began before leaping off the platform.

* * *

"Admiral, the second invasion fleet is ready to deploy, what is our course of approach?" Commander El Melloi informed her.

"Are we ready to begin phase 2 of our operation?" The white-haired woman eyed the group of well-trained officers around the table.

"Yes Ma'am, we're waiting on your orders." A female spoke up.

"Very well, what is our current status with the forward Vanguard units? Have they been successful in securing major strongholds?" Weiss asked Commander El Melloi.

The young man let out a small cough, "The news hasn't been good so far Ma'am, 1st Forward Vanguard Division has suffered major blows in the past 24 hours. The loss of 13th to 16th tank platoon and 149th battalion has left the division in shambles I'm afraid."

A deafening silence washed over the table as the officers looked around at each other nervously. The fact that such losses were being dealt this early into the war proved how they severely underestimated the enemy.

"What else?" Weiss maintained a cold demeanour as she listened.

"2nd Vanguard Division has split it's forces in half to reinforce the 1st, but a report came through an hour ago that the 151st Tank Battalion has reported heavy fighting against a lone enemy tank."

Chewing lightly on her nail, the tactical mind of the Heiress sprung into action as she studied the holographic map of the area. Knowing full well what type of enemy halted their advance, she had no choice but to pull out a secret weapon of their own.

"Major Steiner, the test results of our Hydra came back positive correct?" She asked the middle aged man.

"Yes Admiral, we ha-"

"Then issue the Hydra aboard the Second Invasion fleet this instance," She barked ferociously, "It seems our enemy not only has one, but two weapons platforms. How they achieved such engineering feats is beyond me, but no matter, Atlas will always prevail in the end."

The stern heiress drew a deep breath before continuing her tactical advance. There was no doubt everyone in this room was relying on her to get the job done, to bring victory for Atlas. For now, it would seem that the fight has drawn into a game of cat and mouse until the second invasion fleet dropped in.

"Admiral, initial scouting has marked key targets necessary to cripple the remaining Valen fighting force. From what we have gathered, there are two large cities which seem to serve the purpose of manufacturing arms and training soldiers. Eliminating these targets would surely cripple our enemies."

A holographic image came up together with photographed images of the city detailing as much as it could about the city. To some people's surprise, the bustling metropolis boasted several ASG turrets that covered ever last square inch of the area. Essentially, the factory city was a fortress.

"I doubt the city would simply give up, not if they are holding such firepower. Our main goal is to nullify these targets and use it against our enemies. First thing's first, we push from the Pacific and advance towards the first factory city. We need to secure this location to repel any counter attack our enemies might throw at us." Weiss instructed.

"Commander El Melloi, I want you to lead the second Invasion fleet together with our Vanguard forces to assault the first target," She turned to look towards another well revered officer, "Colonel Braus, I want you to organize together a regiment and flank the city from the rear. You and Commander El Melloi will be working together to take this city. How you two do it is none of my business, the next time you two report to me, I want to hear that the city has been taken!" She ordered sternly.

"Yes Ma'am!" The two officers responded in unison."

"Dismissed." She said.

With that, the male officers got up from their seats and hastily left the room to quickly join the fleet and begin Phase 2. The large presence of Officers still present in the room was astounding to say the least. Nevertheless, more orders were to be issued as things would be rapidly changing throughout the week and the following months to come.

"Lieutenant Dorfmann, what is the Edelwiess' repair status and the rest of Battlefleet Silver Dawn?" The Heiress furrowed a curious brow towards the black-haired officer.

"Our repair yards are working as fast as they can Admiral, but the loss of more than 43 airships and with only 15 making it out alive with heavy damages has drastically increased the repair time. Needless to say, the damage inflicted upon the Edelweiss has set us back." The man said nervously.

"When will my flagship be flight worthy again? I cannot stand idle on this godforsaken continent forever, I need to be out on the field making progress." Her voice began shifting into an annoyed tone.

"A few weeks Ma'am, we have requested aid from nearby cities to help with the repairs just like you ordered. All 15,000 workers are doing over time as we speak."

"If I may suggest Ma'am, if you need a vessel for the time being, the Speranza is still docked with a highly trained SRED crew. A heavily upgraded airship than the regular one's we are fielding." A female officer suggested.

Light Blue eyes fell upon the officer that suggested the idea, while the wait was painful, it certainly was better than waiting around for the flagship to be operational when she could be accomplishing several other deeds during the long wait, "I thank you for the advice Mathers, I cannot waste my time here, there are more important matters to deal with for now."

"Ma'am, how shall we proceed with the invasion of Mistral? With all due respect the entire world is in shock and now is our best opportunity to make the other kingdoms comply lest they suffer the same fate as Vale." Another Male officer, this time with glasses, spoke up.

A small sigh escaped Weiss' mouth, "Give me 24 hours to sort out this problem, I for one will head over to the Mistrali Capital and discuss ' _diplomatic_ ' terms and see if we can come to an agreement. In the meanwhile, Kraus, I expect you, Veneer and Stagler to assemble an invasion force for Mistral should diplomacy fail. Do not disappoint me." Her last line echoed with dread as everyone knew the consequences of failing the Heiress.

"Understood Admiral, we'll begin preparations at once!" Kraus replied sharply before his life like holographic display disappeared from his seat.

The same actions were done by his assigned peers who promptly vacated the room in a flash. Now the table was beginning to look less populate with only a handful of Officers left, particularly those who were notoriously known throughout the military and the personal top dogs of the Heiress.

"All remaining staff who aren't part of the SRED division, leave now. Resume your duties as normal and continue to work for the greater good of Atlas." Weiss quipped.

Again, figures rose, and others disappeared from their seats to vacate the area. Only three figures remained seated and all of them bore killing looks. These people were the epitome of the Atlesian military, exercising the highest authority granted to them and being the best warriors known to man.

"Ciel, I take it your trip to Vacuo went smoothly?" Weiss began in a calm tone.

"I beg to differ Ma'am, while the trip was smooth, the dig sites you mentioned were nothing but a dead end. I did manage to recover more information about the sites, more maps and directions leading to an even bigger site." The tanned woman explained while revealing a stack of neatly bound books.

"Hmm, very well. I shall study them together with Siegfried and see where this new data shall take us." She let out small sigh while pandering around the table, "Rosseau, I want you to make haste with your battalion to Vale and secure this dig site." Her hands came up to throw the stack of papers towards the fair skinned female.

"What will you have me do once I get there?" Rosseau raised a curious brow as she gathered the classified documents.

"Uncover what you can about the area, all the necessary information is within those papers you now hold. I needn't remind you how important this project is important to us all, the sooner we track down the artefact the sooner this war will come to an end." Weiss made herself clear on that notion.

"Forgive me dearly for spoiling the mood, but the situation developing in Vale has sorely halted our progress. Our entire campaign to subdue the neighbouring kingdoms was grand and all, but the fact we've run into problems this early without major progress is poor on our part." Siegfried adjusted his glasses callously as Ciel and Rosseau gave him disapproving glares.

The Heiress merely let out a disgruntled noise, "I see your point Siegfried, but it's only been a day and a couple of hours. To think in such a short time frame I had to execute one of our most incompetent officers." Her voice filled with disgust at the lingering memory.

Everyone in the room froze at her words, each one of them knew Sayars on a personal level, a man who devoted his entire life to a cause he believed in. His loyalty was something that couldn't be rivalled, but to be disposed of in such a quick manner was what made Weiss Schnee feared throughout the Kingdom.

"Anyway, this concludes our meeting for now. Rosseau you have your orders, Ciel you may take the time off and return when you are ready again. The data you have brought back will certainly bring us closer to the _"artefact"_ and I applaud you for that." The Heiress concluded the meeting before leaving the table.

* * *

"Make way!" Jaune yelled at the top of his lungs as he and Velvet pushed their way through sea of crew members who were in constant disarray.

"Medic! I need a Medic!" A sailor screamed at the top of his lungs as he pressed both of his hands on a wounded sailor's chest.

"Shit!" Velvet murmured as she got down to help the critically wounded man, "Fuck, we can't do anything but stop the bleeding. This is Lieutenant Scarlatina requesting immediate medical assistance. Location is on deck 4 hallway 12, patient has suffered major casualties to the chest and is losing blood rapidly." She spoke into her radio before handing the officer the device.

"Thank you Ma'am." He nodded towards her.

"Come on, we need to get to the bridge." Jaune grimaced as he began sprinting madly to the nearest direct elevator.

Rounding a corner, his prayers were answered miraculously as the elevator he was looking went straight towards the Bridge. Stepping in, he waited for his partner to steer clear from the railings and punched the numbers in.

The elevator let out a painful groan as it started up with a jolt and then proceeded to stop. With a small cough followed by a short burst of smoke, the machine came to life again and carried its passengers all the way to the specified floor.

Passing various floors, the damage was beginning to unfold within as small pockets of fires remained unattended and crews rushing to and fro requesting for aid. All they could do was watch from behind the doors as they went past.

As the platform came to an abrupt halt, the doors churned open to reveal another nerve-wracking site. The command floor was in disarray as wires and machinery hung loosely or lay sprawled on the floor. More crew members were dashing about as others sat against the wall in an injured state.

"For a second there I thought that elevator would've been the bane of me." Jaune commented.

"Wouldn't that be one for the records now?" Velvet replied.

"Lieutenants, you don't know how good I feel right now to see you two again." A dark-skinned sailor greeted them with a worried look.

"Chief Julius, what's the situation? Where's the Captain?" Jaune asked.

"We don't know, all we know is the bridge has been on lockdown ever since we jumped through inertial space. No one has bothered to enter since our hands have been full of dealing with the rampaging damages throughout the ships. Every new report that comes in is just listing the Tide Mother to port." The man wore a tired look as he explained the situation.

"It's alright Julius, you did well today," Jaune patted his shoulder, "Gather some men and tell them to secure the bridge, we'll try and sort this mess out."

Taking a deep breath, the blonde placed his hands on the door valve and turned to unlock the steel barrier. Pushing it slowly, the door let out a low hiss as he stepped into the room. The scene within the room was unpleasant to say the least, much worse that the chaos they saw earlier.

"Dear Gods." Velvet raised a hand to her mouth as she witnessed the aftermath.

"Lieutenants," A familiar voice greeted them, albeit in a shaky tone.

"Diaz! What's the situation?" The blonde began, looking at the battered officer who had his left arm in a sling.

"Where's Captain Fletcher?" Velvet abruptly butted in.

Diaz wore a forlorn look as he turned his head towards the corner of the room. Whatever room was left in the partially destroyed bridge was made to hold the body bags of the fallen sailors, the Captain being one of them.

"I'm sorry Lieutenants, there was nothing we could do. The blast wave alone killed him on sight." He said in a heavy tone.

"And the XO?" Jaune looked around for a familiar figure of authority.

"Dead as well," He gestured to the lifeless body on the floor being attended by a lone medical staff.

"Then who's next in line Diaz?" The blonde asked sincerely.

The helmsman bit his lower lip and stood up straight, "As the highest ranking officer on board….I believe you do sir."

Jaune felt his boots sink into the metal flooring as the weight of his newfound responsibilities landed onto his shoulders. He could only open his mouth and gawk as he was at a loss for words.

"Admiral Glauca has notified that he is coming aboard." The Petty Officer informed them.

"Roger that," Jaune acknowledged the woman, "You still spinnin' radar?" He asked the battered man.

"Always." He reassured him.

"Coordinate with the emergency crews and prioritise our wounded, I want them off this ship. After that begin evacuation procedures, the entire place is too risky to stay on."

"Aye sir!" He responded attentively before blazing away at his console.

"Admiral on deck!" The petty officer from earlier shouted.

Everyone within the room stood to attention to greet the high-ranking figure, but almost everyone was in a battered shape to even hold their form properly.

"At ease sailors, where's Captain Fletcher?" Glauca asked just as a pair of sailors carried a stretcher past him slowly.

"Dead sir." Jaune gestured towards the body bag.

The Admiral could only wear a heavy look as he watched the deceased officer exit the room, "And XO?"

"Same situation sir," Velvet began bluntly as she gestured towards the motionless body in the corner.

"Dammit," Glauca sighed. He turned towards the next person in charge to take the mantle of Captain and sure enough, one of the best SCARs members stood before him. But while Lieutenant Arc may be ready, now wasn't the time to thrust such responsibilities unto him, "We all know who's next in line to inherit command of this ship, but I believe that time isn't now. Besides, what good is a Captain without a ship?"

The words eased Jaune a little as his new-found responsibilities were seemingly lifted off his chest, for the time being at least. But the Admiral had a point, the Tide Mother was in no condition to fight and the enemy may as well sneeze in her general direction and she'd fall apart.

"Lieutenant Diaz, I'm sure Lieutenant Arc already instructed you to begin evacuation procedures? If so, continue with your duty, I want everyone off this ship so that repairs can begin right away. But even I have little hope that we can repair this ship with our current resources," Glauca pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, "You two, follow me up to the command room, we'll discuss our next move."

Following the man out of the room, Jaune gave a small salute towards Diaz as a sign of encouragement. As the two strode through the halls, they could only offer their condolences to the lives lost. Within minutes the trio made haste towards the command room as time was now against them.

"Secure the room!" Glauca barked with a sharp tongue as to set the mood in the room, "Gather around men and women, due to an unforeseen development we now have more urgent priorities on our lists. General Dorn, Commodore Russ, Major General," He nodded towards the remaining officers still alive, "We now more or less have a ship in our possession, but we need supplies to repair her. Unfortunately supplies at Fort Tarsis cannot fully bring the ship back into fighting conditions, if anything it would repair only critical aspects of the ship while still leaving her vulnerable."

"So, on top of reclaiming our lost cities, we also have to sought out raw materials to repair our air fleet? That's good and all, but where do we look for those supplies?" Commodore Russ inquired the group.

"If I remember correctly, recent logistics reports state that the city of Duscae is currently sitting atop a mountain of resources enough to repair our air fleet. That is, what's left of our air fleet." General Dorn said.

"Then we have our answer," Glauca nodded his head, "All the more reason for us to begin our push north as fast as we can. The city of Duscae is our first priority with the amount of resources it possess. Should the city fall to Atlas, it'll only make things much worse for us."

"General Dorn! Communication lines have been re-established across the country, I've got direct lines towards Duscae and Podronos!" A comms officer excitedly reported.

"By the Gods, perhaps all hope is not lost yet. Raise the city, put whoever is in charge through. We need to debrief them as soon as possible." Dorn hastily instructed the man.

Blazing away at his console, the comms officer began opening several lines towards the two cities in hopes of getting an answer. At the same time, waves of radio chatter came in which alone was a nightmare to solve.

"Sir, Colonel Anderson and Major Mendez are on the line. Patching through now." The officer informed the group.

Moments later, two small sized holographic men appeared on the table with a confused look. Their sullen faces indicated the lack of sleep they both possessed. However, the sea of familiar faces sparked a new wave of hope for the two officers.

"Sirs, it's good two see all of you. When we heard the attack on the capital city, we dug in and prepared as best we could. However the city of Duscae is looking rather bleak, we've had multiple skirmishes with enemy forces over the past few hours already and it seems they're pushing with everything they have towards the city."

"What of the citizens Colonel? Have they been evacuated from the city?" Dorn inquired.

The man adjusted his beret nervously as his next set words might cost him dearly, "We have managed to evacuate a small number of civilians out of the city and are on their way towards Podronos as we speak. But majority of the population is up in arms over the destruction of our capital and refuse to leave. Instead they wish to fight and our factories production values have doubled. Local Militias have been formed and are reinforcing every sector of the city as well."

"Well, things just got interesting." Russ commented.

"Indeed Commodore, perhaps we can use this newfound power to our aid?" Glauca stroked his chin as he studied the situation.

"Major Mendez, I suppose things have been quiet on your end. Has there been any disturbance on your radars?" Dorn cast his watchful gaze over the officer.

"Nothing to report sir, we expect to receive a large influx of refuges over the coming days and will do our best to help them. In the meantime, we'll send out scouts and bolster our defences in the event we do get attacked."

"Then that settles things for now, let us comme-"

"General! Emergency reports are flying in through the comms channel, forward outpost and bases have reported large Atlesian forces pushing in from the North West coastline. Several states have reported heavy fighting and casualties and need dire assistance!" The officer spoke with a hint of dread in his voice.

"Shit, every moment we spend sitting around the enemy crawls deeper into our lands," Glauca gritted his teeth in anger, "General Dorn, mobilize your forces this instant and prepare your march towards Duscae. Eliminate any resistance along the way and drive back the enemy however you see fit, make no mistake, we will show no mercy!."

"Sir!" The man saluted vigorously.

"Commodore Russ, keep all airbases on the line and start assigning strike groups to each one. I want total air supremacy wherever we go and lightning fast response times to any sort of requests that is asked for you. Make haste old friend, we're relying on you for now."

"You can count on me Admiral." The stoic man replied before leaving the room.

As tensions fluctuated throughout the room, officers darted through and fro relaying orders and reports to their leaders who would then resolve the oncoming conflicts. The battle for the homeland had truly begun and Vale's forces would be tested far harder than the world could imagine.

/…/

"I hear the command room is in a frenzied state right now. What seems to have spooked the higher ups?" Ramirez asked Nakamoto as he typed away at the keyboard.

"Well I've only been hearing rumours lately, but it seems that communications have been established with our lost factory cities. Good news, but it seems Atlas has begun squandering land for themselves and are pushing in from the North West to cut off Duscae and Podronos. Or so I've heard to say the least, moreover, numerous states have been overrun due to the surprise attacks." The Petty Officer answered the engineer.

"Well…shit." Was all Ramirez could say as his mouth failed to register any words, "All the more reason to start rolling out the Javelins. They're already to deploy but I just need to run some final diagnostic checks as to make sure none of them fail upon launch."

As the duo studied the wall of codes running along the monitors, they failed to notice the door slide open. In any event, someone could've easily snuck into the area and sabotaged the project without any of them knowing. But that wouldn't be happening anytime soon as the person that entered was that of a familiar face.

"The neurological pathways all seem stable so a first-time sync should go off accordingly. With all the pre-recorded data from the pilots that tested out their new toys, I'd say each and everyone of them are good to go." Ramirez straightened his back and let out a tired yawn.

"I have faith that your toys would greatly benefit Vale Lieutenant." Nakamoto encouraged the man.

A small chuckle escaped his mouth, "You give me too much credit Nakamoto, I don't deserve praise for this project. In fact, we should both owe our thanks towards Ren Nakamoto, your father."

"The fact that my father was head developer of this project is the reason why I get to work along side you. I personally asked the Admiral for this position, to follow in my father's footsteps to say the very least." She leaned against the desk and eyed the engineer.

"I think you'll make a fine engineer one day, too bad this war got in the way. But once all this dies down, I'm sure you'll make it." Ramirez smiled softly.

"Thanks Ramirez, I didn't thin-"

The entire room went read as emergency alarms blared loudly, its high-pitched wails reverberating throughout the room and sending everyone into an alerted state. Suffice to say, the very act of triggering the alarm meant something grave must've occurred. And grave it was.

"Fuck! This can't be happening!" Ramirez wore a panicked look as his eyes darted around the room for the source of trouble.

"Lieutenant Scarlatina? When did you arrive?" Nakamoto asked suspiciously as the Faunus woman made her presence known.

"I arrived not too long ago to check on the Javelins, what's going on? Why is the emergency alarms going off?" The Officer asked.

"Shit, don't tell me!..." Ramirez trailed off as he turned his attention towards the monitor.

To the engineer's horror, a sea of red filled his monitor and errors came flying in everywhere and flooded the screen. Unknown source codes and variables overlapped with each other and streams of data were either destroyed or sent elsewhere.

It was made clear that this was a virus attack, and whoever planted the virus now unleashed a destructive force into the neurological path source that linked a pilot and his Javelin. Without the source, the suits were nothing more than decorated pieces of armour.

"Fuck, no! I can't stop it!" The engineer said as he tried his utter best to halt the viruses' destructive path.

As the two women watched tensely, Nakamoto spotted something moving out of the corner of her eye and turned to investigate. What would happen next would throw the entire base under lockdown and a series of chases to occur.

"Hey! Where are you going?" The Petty Officer asked the male figure leaving the room.

As the man stopped dead in his tracks, he turned towards the source and his pupils shrunk in fear. Carrying what seemed to be an external device in his hand, he knew he couldn't afford to stay in the room any longer.

"Stop right there soldier, I'm warning you!" Velvet barked as she drew her pistol.

Too late, the unnamed soldier bolted through the doors and made a run for it, with his cover blown, it was now a race to see if he could escape out of here alive.

"Shit!" Velvet blurted out loud as she dashed after the culprit. Bursting through the doors, she glanced in both directions before taking a hard right, "Top Gun actual this is Widow actual, we have a spy on the base. Suspect is responsible for the tampering of the Javelin program, initiating pursuit over."

Pistol in one hand, the tactical bunny girl made quick strode through the hall as she ran after the man who somehow possessed athletic running skills. Coming up onto an intersection, the target glanced behind before smashing into a cart of boxes.

Seizing her chance, the Faunus increased her pace and closed the distance at frightening speeds. Just as she had him within her grasp, the suspect whipped out a pistol and aimed in her general direction.

Quick thinking and lightning fast reflexes kicking in, Velvet instantly changed her approach and dove for the nearest piece of object that registered as cover.

 **-BANG!-**

 **-BANG!-**

The armed assailant let loose two shots to stave off his pursuers before getting back up and taking off. Unarmed soldiers dove for cover and let out screams as the sudden sound of gunfire enveloped their ears. Basically no one was brave enough to tackle the man head on less they wished to get shot.

"Do not let your target out of sight Scarlatina, I want that man alive you hear me!? This base is under lock down, so he'll have nowhere to run too." Glauca's voice beamed through her earpiece, albeit in fury.

"Understood sir!" Velvet replied as she pulled out from her cover and aimed her pistol. At the same time, the base went into complete lockdown and the shutters rolled over the windows completely and alarms flashed wildly.

Just as she was about to put a solid round into the guy's leg, the lockdown procedure messed up her aim. Under the fear that she may miss and hit someone else, she held off on the shot and resumed her pursuit.

"Where are you?" Jaune's voice came through the earpiece.

"Currently on the east wing, 5th floor. Heading towards the west wing. The bastard definitely planned an escape route for sure." She spoke between steady breaths.

"Got it, keep me updated on where he's heading, I'll try cornering him."

"Tell the Admiral to give a public announcement to all armed personnel, we need the dipshit alive if we hope to gouge some answers out of him."

"Roger that!"

Rounding a corner and crossing past another intersection, soldiers ducked left and right to avoid the armed thug whilst security personnel threatened to shoot him but were told at the last minute not too. And so, an ensuing chase began around the densely packed base.

Rounding another sharp bend, the man turned around for a short moment to squeeze another shot against his pursuers. Anticipating the attack, Velvet prepared to dodge the bullet as soon as it was fired.

 **-BANG!-**

Narrowly dodging the projectile, she executed a front flip as to not lose too much momentum in the chase. Much to her dismay however, one of the two security guards that joined her was hit and had to be tended too.

"West wing heading into the North Wing, bastard's probably going to try a=his luck through the fire exits."

"Roger that!"

Grinding to a complete halt, the Faunus aimed her pistol and squeezed the trigger.

 **-BANG!-**

As the gun roared to life with a sharp sound, the weapon discharged its projectile and the bullet flew true towards its target. However, things took a quick turn as the bullet was merely deflected at the visible sign of the target's aura. The kinetic force was akin to a gentle shove that merely threw the target off course for a few seconds.

"Fuck, you gotta be kidding me!" Velvet groaned as she resumed her chase.

Vaulting over a stack of boxes, Velvet knew she would outlast the cretin sooner or later, but she didn't have the luxury to do. Every moment that passed and the man slipped further away from her grasp.

Coming up against another intersection, this time a greater obstacle presented itself. Barely surviving his encounter, the suspect nearly escaped being run over by the mobile buggy towing a trailer full of boxes.

Doing the only logical thing left, the Faunus quickly executed a power slide and drifted effortlessly underneath the trailer. Quickly pushing herself back up, she resumed her chase after executing such a move flawlessly.

Rounding another turn, this time another foe appeared, and it was in the form a blonde knight that would contribute to saving the day. Pistol raised in a threatening manner, the target paid no heed to the weapon and continued sprinting.

Dazed by the man's uncaring ability, he lowered the pistol and instead gave chase and trailed behind Velvet.

"Whatever this guy is hiding, it must be really important for him." Jaune said aloud.

"That or for the Atlesian military, we cannot allow him to leave!"

Driving their target deeper into the base, it wasn't long before Jaune's elaborate plan fell into place. His timing couldn't have been more accurate as by blocking off his target's route, he managed to force him into a known dead end.

Rounding a corner, the chase was already over. Presented with a big metal wall in the end, they had their prey cornered. All that was left was too take him into custody.

Raising her pistol, Velvet was about to issue an order but was denied the chance to do so as Jaune charged forward to tackle the man. In went horribly wrong and the spy took Jaune by surprise with his hand to hand combat.

Using his pistol as a blunt weapon, the spy smacked the grip against Jaune's face and stunned the blonde. Staggering his opponent, a well placed into his stomach settled the match. Boy would that hurt the next morning.

"Dammit Jaune." Velvet groaned before lowering her weapon.

As the spy carefully plotted his next move, he gave a cocky grind towards her and motioned her to step forward. A grave mistake that was, taunting one of the best hand to hand experts in Vale and amongst the SCARs units.

Accepting the bout, Velvet merely kept her cool and dashed forward in an instant. Catching her opponent off guard, she appeared right in front of his face and blocked his arm from raising his gun. Using her free hand, she used her pistol grip and smashed it into his face.

Stunned by the quick attack, Velvet prioritised his left hand and forcibly removed the pistol from his hand. Kicking the weapon aside, she was shoved off in response to her brutish attacks. Now armed with nothing but their bare fists, the two warriors circled the narrow corridor.

Making the first move, Velvet closed the gap between the two and executed a fake power move. Baiting her target perfectly, she quickly changed moves and sent a clean uppercut into the spy's stomach.

Avoiding his slow telegraphed punch, she fell back and avoided his punches with ease. The speed at which his moves flew at was child's play for her, un fair to say the least, like she was about to deck a kid's ass.

Avoiding another deadly jump kick, she leapt back only to find herself against the wall. Making her opponent think she was trapped, he quickly fell for the bait again and would pay the price dearly. Throwing another punch, the Faunus dodged effortlessly and latched onto the limb.

Running along the wall, she quickly turned the tables and grabbed his shirt. Pulling him close, she executed a head butt and sent the man dazed towards the solid piece behind me.

Hearing him let out a satisfying groan, she quickly grabbed his arm and pulled it towards her. Sending a roundhouse kick to his face, her boot left a firm print on his face as blood began oozing out of his nose.

What happened next would only result in intense screaming as the Faunus mercilessly snapped the target's arm like twig. The sound of bone being twisted and snapped echoed throughout the hallway and stunned listeners alike.

With her opponent immobilized, she sent another kick into his jaw and knocked him out clean cold. A hard _-thud-_ further confirmed the match and the spy was completely sprawled out on the floor in a mangled heap. Whatever happened to him next wasn't her decision thankfully.

"Ahhh, that hurt," Jaune complained as he regained consciousness, "So what did I miss?" He looked towards Velvet before eying the motionless body on the floor, "Oh."

"Top Gun actual this is Widow actual, target has been subdued. Awaiting pickup at North Wing, hallway 6 over." Velvet buzzed her comms.

"Solid work Widow actual, proceed to the med bay for a thorough check up. I'll personally see you there."

"Understood sir."

"So, I guess it's a trip to the med bay then?"

"If anything, you need the doctor more than me." Velvet let out a small chuckle at his slightly bruised face.

"Well damn, I really wasn't expecting him to do that. Guess I made one big fool of myself." Jaune let out a chuckle as he felt the small bruise on his right cheek.

Whipping out a small hanker-chief from her pocket, Velvet edged closer towards her comrade and wiped the minor jots of blood away, "Here, hold onto this for the meantime. Let's get you to the med bay before you decide to do anything reckless."

"Ahh, I have a bad feeling about this." Jaune responded nervously.

* * *

 _-2 days later, 100 kilometres south west of Duscae. 0500 hours-_

The Raven dropship churned and buckled as it banked itself in low flight above the tree tops, its hull barely grazing the leaves extended from its branches. Inside the spacious transport were men ready to take the fight to the enemy. Men who were well revered and feared throughout the world for their deeds.

It was today that the might of the Atlesian forces would truly be tested against one of Vale's most elite soldiers. Wether or not the nemy was prepared wasn't something the 19th Psian Jakals cared about, all they needed to do was hurt the enemy at its weakest point.

Leading the charge ahead of such dedicated warriors was a man who knew no bounds, who would carry out his duty to the bitter end. A skilled tactician and an elite soldier put two together on the battlefield and you have an out of control whirlwind to deal with.

"Alright listen up Jakals! Remember the plan and stick to it, we drop in and put the airfield out of commission. All of you do your roles and we'll all come out on top, and lastly, stick to your training. We're Thunder Warriors dammit, so show the enemy how it's done!"

"Sir yes sir!" The men in blue responded sharply.

"We're the bloody 19th Psian Jakals, let's not disappoint our fellow comrades out in the field. We destroy this airfield, the better fighting chance we give the city of Duscae!"

"Approaching jump zone, buckle up boys." The pilot informed them.

"This is it, once this dropship jumps, I expect lightining fast deployment. Do not disappoint me!"

"Entering Inertial space, 3, 2 ,1." The pilot announced before pulling back the throttle.

As the Raven dropship powered up its specialized thrusters, a blue stream of light enveloped the ship before a small vortex opened in front of the ship. Pulling the vehicle through, it was gone within the blink of an eye.

Inside the ship, not even two seconds had passed, and the pilot quickly yanked back on the throttle to cancel the jump. Dropping the ship out of Inertial Space within milliseconds, the aircraft now found itself flying low over a busy camp that was dazed by its sudden appearance.

"DROP!" The pilot yelled.

Ramp doors dropped like flies and the wind howled throughout the vehicle. Not wasting another precious second, the unfazed Thunder Warriors shuffled quickly out of the aircraft and began their short descent towards the base.

Using the assistance of their powered boosters, the soldiers descended rapidly and landed without any scratches. Suffice to say, the base was thrown into utter chaos as enemy soldiers scrambled to get their weapons and put on their armour.

The air erupted with gunfire as the sounds of the Mk-9 Armageddon Energy Rifle tore through the ranks of helpless soldiers. Clearly the airbase was in its infancy stages as tents made up 80% of the structures in the area.

Breaking up into small groups of four, the Psian Jakals would continue to wreak havoc around the base as enemy forces were harassed from all angles and denied the chance to regroup to initiate a counter attack.

Leading the charge was none other than Captain Winchester, the man behind the successful lightning strike against the airbase.

"Styles, Aiello, Daniels, form up on me. We sweep the inner sector and proceed towards the command structure. Clear out all the tents and check flanks along the way." Winchester ordered in a quick decisive manner.

"Sir!" The men replied with unbridled loyalty.

As the group breached the front gate, scores of soldiers without their armour fled the scene while others only bothered to grab their weapons and retaliated. Sure enough, the Atlesians began to return fire in their direction.

"Weapons free, I don't want to see any of these Atlesian bastards moving!" He barked.

Moving with deadly speed, the four-man squad broke up and dove straight for cover. Using the terrain to their advantage, Styles quickly flanked hunkered down enemies while Aiello drew their fire.

Within moments the trooper appeared next to the dug in Atlesian soldiers and squeezed the trigger of his rifle. Shades of bright blue reflected off his armour as the energy bolts relentlessly butchered their targets.

Moving up, to join Styles, Aiello quickly swept the empty tents one by one before he joined his comrade. On the other side, Winchester and Daniels pressed forward from cover to cover while gunning down any opposition.

Sweeping the battlefield with deadly precision and without remorse, the Atlesian soldiers hardly cobbled together any resistance. Rifle raised, his visor maintained a body count of how many active personnel remained on the field within his vision.

Activating the built-in thermal vision, Daniels left his cover and kept his finger on the trigger. Taking the lead ahead of his captain, he detected movement through the tents and found several targets waiting to peek out.

Pointing his rifle in their direction, he fired his shots carefully and put the soldiers down with minimal resistance. Detecting a soldier from earlier about to spring out from his cover, he quickly swung his rifle around and fire again, ending the target.

"Focus on the tents, I'll handle the stragglers still coached up behind the boxes and cover," Captain Winchester said.

With a silent nod towards his superior, the corporal quickly detached a Hellblaster grenade from his belt and lobbed it into the distance. As the grenade exploded into a fiery blaze, it was essentially a miniature napalm bomb that burnt anything it touched.

Such was the standard way of how the Thunder Warriors operated, quick, precise and brutal. As a group of soldiers emerged from their burning shelters, they writhed in agony as the skin melted all around them.

Sure enough, the surviving soldiers that witnessed the brutal execution let anger get the best of them, ultimately it proved to be their last fatal mistake. As the remaining stragglers came out from hiding, they were all gunned down with precise shots to the head. Not one of them fired their weapons in retaliation through their fit of rage.

Cleaning the remaining stragglers and securing the compound, the central command centre was officially under their control. Of the other Psian Jakals that were let loose about the airbase, the raging fires and rising smoke that continued to increase in numbers indicated they were doing well.

"Jakals, form up on me. We're not out of the woods yet, let's sweep the building and burn their communications down. After that we extract on the airfield."

Garnering a wave of agreeable nods, the men readied their rifles for breach and entry. Stacking up against the door, Winchester gave a silent node towards Styles. Confirming the order, the soldier whipped out a circular device and planted it firmly on the door.

Automatically arming itself, the weapon let out a few short beeps before completely blowing the door inwards. Grenades at the ready, several flew inside the room followed by smoke canisters. A series of ear-shattering explosions rang throughout the air as the grenades detonated followed by the dying wails of the unfortunate souls caught in the blast.

"Thermal!" Winchester barked before stepping through the door.

Sweeping around to the left, Styles followed behind and swept the right flank while Aiello and Daniels pushed up front. Covering the room on all ends, the four man kill team scoped out deceased bodies on the radar but found no movement yet.

Suddenly, multiple voices filled the room as blinded soldiers shouted orders and questions amidst the chaos. About time they gave up, any longer and they would've been butchered up close rather than receiving a painless death.

Rifles at the ready, blue light razed the room as the helpless soldiers were mercilessly cut down, within seconds the room had been fully cleared of any living thing, save for the Jakals.

"Daniels, Aiello, plant the charges. We leave in 1 minute!" Winchester relayed his orders with a quick tongue.

As the two men got to work, Styles and the Captain kept a watchful eye on the doors and out the windows for a possible counter-attack. In the distance, sporadic gunfire continued as public radio chatter was swarmed with friendly squad leaders reporting their situation.

"Jakal actual this is Eagle 1, approaching to extract. Make it quick Captain, I'm detecting a large response force heading your way." The Pilot buzzed in Winchester's ear.

"Solid copy Eagle 1, will be on the airfield in one mike." He responded, "Time's up! Let's move!" His voice bellowed around the room.

With the charges set, the command centre was rig to blow sky high. With several voices confirming the completion of their objective, the entire airbase was rigged to blow sky high that even the Atlesians would forgo salvaging it.

"All squads, from up on the runway in one mike! Airbase is going to go hot so stay sharp!"

Footsteps raging across the damp tarmac, the sky began to darken and began to unleash a small torrent. Seconds passed as more soldiers gathered around the runway, some even came back in a battered state while others in a makeshift body bag.

Eagerly anticipating their extraction vehicle, the Raven class dropship screamed overhead the forest and banked a hard right. Ramp deployed beforehand, the aircraft hovered lightly above the ground as Jakals began to pile on.

But life wasn't going to be easy, and before the first Psian could touch the ramp with his foot, a large calibre shell flew by and impacted the tarmac. Carving a clean crater in the road, the soldiers sprung into action and found a stray battle tank on the grass.

"Pull out Eagle 1! We'll draw it's fire!" Winchester orders before tossing another smoke grenade.

As the dropship's engine roared to life, the Pilot quickly executed a textbook emergency take off and blasted off above the trees to put some distance between the vehicle. Gunfire started again as the 19th fired through their smokescreen to distract the tank.

Swinging the bulky aircraft around, all available weaponry on the aircraft deployed itself and locked onto the lone vehicle. Firing two anti-tank rockets, the missiles let out a horrendous scream as it soared through the air before impacting the tank.

Throwing the vehicle into a fiery blaze, the turret popped off the hull as its ammunition load detonated entirely. None would've survived such an encounter, but this was war, it was kill of be killed.

Securing the extraction once more, the dropship came down once again and the Jakals wasted no time in boarding the vehicle. Within seconds the hold was filled but more trouble presented itself in the form of angry gunfire.

Energy bolts whizzed through the air as the shooters missed entirely and hit the plasteel hull of the aircraft, leaving a burning mark. As the injured and deceased made their way on board, Aiello and Winchester returned fire as to cover their retreat.

"Fucking bastards!" Aiello yelled angrily as he cut down another Atlesian soldier. But his anger would come bite him back in the arse as a stray shot grazed his shoulder, "Shit, I'm hit!"

"Get onboard Aiello, we're leaving!" Winchester urged him as he fired back at the increasing crowd, "WE'RE CLEAR, GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"Roger, punching it." The Pilot calmly said as the ramp closed behind him.

Banking the aircraft away, the timers on the detonator finally hit a solid zero and the charges were automatically detonated. An earth-shattering noise enveloped the aircraft as multiple parts of the airbase erupted into a fiery blaze.

Structures collapsing left and right, newly formed craters making themselves visible and the powerful charges tore through the land, making it a barren wasteland. The same explosion managed to envelope the response force that tried to eagerly stop the Jakals escape but ended up meeting a painful demise.

Witnessing the carnage and destruction outside the window, Winchester breathed a sigh of relief as he clung onto the handle bars for support. The price for such a small victory wasn't without a price however, and it was usually the death toll that saddened him the most.

"Sir, all thirty men are accounted for. However, three didn't make it and four are injured." Aiello reported in a low voice.

"You know the drill sergeant, make sure they rest well." He patted the Sergeant's shoulder.

* * *

 **Hi there readers, apologies for the lack of updates on this story. Been trying to wrap my had about how to progress this fic with some progress. Nonetheless I have some more interesting developments in the making. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, cheers!**


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